Airtricity helps boost NTR valuation by 60%

The "sum-of-the-parts" value of NTR has climbed by 60 per cent to almost €900 million over the past year, according to a rough analysis carried out by Davy Stockbrokers.

In a note issued yesterday, Davy analyst Flor O'Donoghue estimated that NTR as a group could be worth up to €4.50 per share.

This compared to an estimate of €2.81 per share dating from May last year.

NTR is currently trading well above the €4.50 level.

Yesterday, it was changing hands on a grey market for €5.25, implying an overall valuation of €1.02 billion.

Much of the uplift in Davy's view on NTR was attributed to a surge in the valuation for Airtricity, the wind energy company in which NTR has a 51 per cent stake. Airtricity said on Thursday that it planned to raise €250 million, prompting observers to value the firm as a whole at €800 million.

"While still an emerging business, the context for its development is hugely positive," Mr O'Donoghue noted.

"High energy prices, fears over the security of energy supplies and concerns about the environment all underpin the argument of renewable energy resources," he added.

When Davy last carried out a detailed examination of NTR, it valued the stake in Airtricity at about €170 million.

"Based on the current pre-money valuation, this has risen to €280.5 million," Mr O'Donoghue noted yesterday.

He noted that his €4.50 estimate for NTR was based on a "back-of-the-envelope" calculation.