NTR seeks €150m for overseas expansion

National Toll Roads (NTR) plans to raise €150 million in new equity during the second half of this year. The cash will be used to fund overseas expansion of its energy and waste management businesses as the company shifts its focus away from road tolling.

NTR says it will spend at least €2 billion over the next three years on growing its wind energy subsidiary Airtricity, its Greenstar recycling-based waste management business and new bioenergy unit Bioverda, which already account for about 80 per cent of its business.

It aims to generate about four-fifths of its business overseas by 2009, from about 20 per cent at present, as it moves away from developing and operating infrastructure in Ireland. NTR will retain its roads business, and is committed to tendering for the remaining Irish toll roads, but doesn't plan any international expansion for that division.

"The equity fundraising will support NTR's equity contributions to its various subsidiaries, and clearly we will need to borrow further," said Michael Walsh, the company's finance director. "The business is going through a radical change in terms of what it does and where it does it." As part of its new strategy, NTR is considering listing its Irish Broadband business on the stock market in mid to late 2007, Mr Walsh said. While the wireless broadband subsidiary is growing "very quickly," it needs to build up its volume of customers before its shares are traded, he said. The stock will most likely have a dual listing on London's Alternative Investment Market (AIM) and on IEX, Ireland's small companies market.

To help finance its expansion, the group is tapping existing shareholders for new stock. Plans for an equity fundraising later this year follows news earlier this week that subsidiary Airtricity expects to raise a further €60 million from the sale of new shares after strong investor demand in June's €250 million fundraising. The group's shares are traded on the grey market.

NTR said yesterday it earned €22.2 million in attributable profit in the 15 months through March, compared with €19.7 million in the 12 months to the end of 2004. The company has changed the end of its financial year to March 31st from a calendar year.

Revenue for the 15-month period climbed to €468 million, up from €263.6 million in the previous 12 months, while earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation rose to €84.7 million from €53.5 million.