Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us today for Foresight Group's full-year results presentation for the year ending 31st of March 2025. The presentation will commence shortly. After the presentation, we'll conduct a question-and-answer session. If you wish to ask a question, you'll be able to ask a question either through the Zoom webinar link provided separately or by submitting written questions using the Ask a Question button on the Spark Live webcast page. If you've joined us via Zoom webinar, please note that this call is being live-streamed to a webcast for a wider audience and will be recorded. I would now like to hand over to Bernard Fairman, Co-founder and Executive Chairman of the Foresight Group, to open the presentation. Please go ahead.
Good morning. I'm Bernard Fairman, Co-founder and Executive Chairman of Foresight Group. I'm delighted to welcome you to Foresight's full-year results for the period ending March 2025 that I'm presenting alongside Gary Fraser today. Before addressing the Group's performance over the last 12 months, I'd like to provide you with a reminder of our strengths. Foresight offers institutional and retail investors a diverse range of private and listed investment solutions in real assets located in the U.K., Europe, and Australia, and growth capital for SME businesses across both the U.K. and Ireland. The Group delivers high-quality earnings with 85%-90% recurring revenue and over 90% of long-duration capital within our LP and Evergreen vehicles. This provides considerable revenue visibility each year and underwrites the Group's performance.
Our boots-on-the-ground approach, with 12 offices in the U.K. and a further 7 internationally, enables us to build deep local relationships that support a strong investment and investor pipeline across all of our strategies. These strategies seek to address the significant investment opportunities within rapidly growing markets driven by global decarbonization, increasing electricity consumption, national initiatives to increase energy security, and also by the SME funding gap in the U.K. and Ireland. Finally, our diverse range of strategies and sources of institutional and retail capital across our three divisions of infrastructure, private equity, and Foresight Capital Management provides the Group with resilience through economic cycles. During FY2025, we delivered a strong performance across the whole of our business. Our regional private equity business launched two new funds, raising over GBP 100 million and further consolidating the Group's coverage of and leadership in the U.K. and Irish regional SME markets.
Our U.K. tax-efficient products achieved another year of record fundraising that was underpinned by the performance of our funds and delivered by our 50-person distribution team. FEIP II made good progress with EUR 485 million commitments approved. A strong investment and investor pipeline provides us with confidence in achieving at least the EUR 1.25 billion final target. Finally, within our public markets division, we added product diversity, scale, and expertise through the successful acquisition of the trade and assets of Web Asset Management, as we aim to return this division to growth. This strong performance and strategic progress has enabled the Group to extend its track record of profitable growth, and we remain on track to deliver on our medium-term guidance to double profits in the five years to FY29. Our AUM has increased from GBP 4.5 billion in 2020 to GBP 13.2 billion, a compound annual growth rate of 24%.
Core profitability has increased at a faster rate of 38%, as the business has benefited from margin expansion through an improved average revenue margin and careful cost management. After Gary has taken you through the financials and our drivers for growth, I'll talk more about our market opportunities and business outlook.
Thanks, Bernard. In FY25, we delivered a strong financial performance with growth across all of our key financial metrics. AUM was up 9%, with FUM delivering a similarly attractive increase, up 14% to GBP 9.6 billion. Revenue was also ahead by 9% at GBP 154 million, with 87% of this driven by recurring fees, the same percentage as last year, and within our 85%-90% target range. CORRIB at DAP pre-SBP increased by 5% to GBP 62.2 million, supporting the growth in total dividend of 9% to GBP 0.242 per share. Turning firstly to the key movements in AUM, which increased by 9% from GBP 12.1 billion to GBP 13.2 billion, this growth resulted from two main drivers.
The first was successful organic fundraising, which included record inflows across our U.K. tax-efficient products, good progress towards the EUR 1.25 billion target for the second vintage of our European-focused FEIP strategy, and the continued growth of our regional private equity strategy through the launch of two new funds covering the South West and South Yorkshire. Gross fundraising across these long-duration vehicles totaled GBP 1.1 billion. The second was the acquisition of the trade and assets of Web Asset Management and the appointment as sub-investment manager and sub-distributor for the Liontrust Diversified Institutional Real Assets Fund, in combination adding over GBP 700 million to our FCM division's AUM.
Moving on to the Group's profitability, we have delivered a 9% increase to revenue resulting from our fundraising achievements referenced on the prior slide, with the success of our U.K. tax-efficient products in particular leading to a higher average management fee rate whilst delivering investment into U.K. SMEs. Our revenues also remained of a high quality, with 87% of total revenues recurring annually, which is in the middle of our target range. The key component of core administrative expenses continued to be staff costs, and while this factored into short-term margin compression, CORRIB at DAP pre-SBP still grew by a healthy 5%. Our adjusted EPS figure, which strips out one-off adjustments, including acquisition-related impairments previously announced, also grew by 6%. Strong demand for our specialised products has ensured resilient management fee rates over recent years.
The average Group management fee rate has benefited from successful fundraising across our highly profitable U.K. tax-efficient and regional private equity products. Noting that our real asset strategies will provide scale and CORRIB at DAP margin expansion as we establish multi-vintages. Core staff costs increased by 14% over the period, with approximately half of this increase directed towards recognizing and incentivizing our existing team, whose performance underpins our continued growth. The remainder related to strategic recruitment to support deployment and institutional fundraising activity, as well as technology and data. This recruitment will provide future value and ensure that the organization is equipped to meet its expanding operational demands. Going forward, we expect the rate of cost growth to continue to reflect the business requirements to achieve our guidance.
Looking ahead, we expect continued fundraising across the Group's diversified channels to underpin delivery against our growth ambitions over the next four years. This strong and broad-based pipeline positions us well to drive further progress. In the latter years of the guidance period, we also anticipate further CORRIB at DAP pre-SBP margin expansion, supported by the scaling of institutional fundraising and the deployment of that capital, which then qualifies for higher fee rates. As referenced on slide 12, we have added to our team to support this next phase of growth, and as incremental capital is raised, we expect operational leverage to come through. In addition, the potential for material performance fees will result from an increasing number of funds reaching the realisation phase, rising from two today to over 10 by FY29.
This will further support margin progression, noting that recurring revenue is expected to remain within our guided range over that period. I'll now cover each of our key fundraising drivers for growth in more detail. Starting with our real asset strategies, our 185+ professionals leverage product development, investment origination and execution, and asset management capabilities to offer end-to-end investment solutions for retail and institutional investors. We take a multi-vintage approach to institutional fundraising and currently have two second vintages in Foresight Energy Infrastructure Partners II and Foresight Natural Capital II that are both aiming to build on their first vintages and are underpinned by the opportunities provided by global decarbonisation. Firstly, our flagship energy transition strategy, FEIP, has a diversified and differentiated strategy focusing on portfolio construction, value generation, and sustainability impact to deliver long-term returns for its investors.
The first vintage successfully closed 70% higher than its target at EUR 851 million and was fully deployed within its investment period by January 2024. Our second vintage was then opened within five months of that date, and our international LP relationships and strong investment pipeline have underpinned good progress towards a targeted EUR 1.25 billion fund size. Our Australian Renewables Income Fund, ARIF, is also expected to benefit from Australia's push towards decarbonisation. Currently, around 40% of the country's electricity comes from renewable energy sources, but with a national target of 82% by 2030, achieving this ambition will require over AUD 300 billion in additional investment to meet net zero goals and build a cleaner, more resilient energy future. Achieving Australia's energy transition goals will require significant institutional investment, presenting substantial opportunities for ARIF.
The Evergreen Fund remains open to capital commitments, and the Australian team has commenced a fresh fundraising campaign in recent months, meeting with a number of local asset consultants and institutional investors across the superannuation, insurance, and wealth sectors. Finally, Foresight Natural Capital II is a U.K. and European strategy due to begin marketing this year, with a target fundraising size of EUR 500 million, leveraging the success of our U.K.-focused natural capital strategy that has grown to circa GBP 250 million. Our real asset value proposition and competitive advantage provide confidence in being able to successfully launch multi-vintages of these strategies in order to drive scale over the remainder of our guidance period and beyond. This year, we became the number one investment manager in annual fundraising for unquoted Business Relief products, significantly growing market share within a growing market.
Our flagship VCTs, Foresight VCT and Foresight Enterprise VCT, also experienced accelerated closes when compared with prior years, evidencing the demand for high-performing products. The strength of our fundraising is driven by both excellent investment performance and the quality of our distribution capabilities. Our distribution team is well established across the U.K., with a deep network of over 6,000 independent financial advisors. Together, this provides us with confidence to raise at least GBP 600 million gross per annum across our long-duration U.K. tax-efficient products over the remainder of our guidance period. In regional private equity, our deep regional network built across over 55 investment professionals and 15 active funds makes our offering very hard to replicate and creates a competitive advantage in this market.
Supported by a very significant number of advisory relationships, we are able to source a high volume of investments at attractive entry multiples within our GBP 0.5 million-GBP 10 million target market. These capabilities combine to deliver a strong investment track record, which in turn delivers enhanced returns to investors and enables us to raise more capital. In the last four years, we have launched nine new funds, enabling us to nearly triple our AUM from GBP 266 million in FY21 to GBP 720 million at the end of FY25, a compound annual growth rate of 28%. As we launch follow-on vintages of these regional funds, we expect this fundraising cadence to continue in the coming years. Following the steady progress made during FY25, I am pleased to confirm that we remain on track to achieve our medium-term growth guidance. I will now pass you back to Bernard.
Thanks, Gary. The growth levers that Gary has just talked about are targeting expanding markets, taking the energy transition and natural capital real assets market first. Over the last two decades, Foresight has built a meaningful presence across the U.K., Europe, and Australia, seeking to capitalize on the long-term structural and regulatory tailwinds arising from a number of drivers, including global decarbonization, energy security concerns, and increasing electricity consumption requirements, particularly from the use of AI and data centers. These drivers remain at least as strong today as at any time in our history. Growth in the market and in our share of it are opportunities for the Group. We have a 6% share of our current addressable market in the U.K., 5% in Australia, and only 1% of the much larger EU market, where our competitive advantages are equally relevant.
The multi-vintages of our energy transition and natural capital-focused strategies provide investors with end-to-end investment solutions that capitalize on these opportunities. Looking ahead, these opportunities are expected to increase further as countries seek to meet their energy transition targets, with the annual investments in each of these markets expected to increase by roughly two-thirds by 2030. Our U.K. tax-efficient products aim to provide individuals with the opportunity to invest in SME investments in the U.K. and Ireland. Our track record of consistent returns, alongside strong distribution capabilities, has meant that for the first time we became the market leader in annual fundraising for unquoted business relief products last year.
This is a market that has seen strong tailwinds in recent months, with increased demand being driven by regulatory changes that have impacted AIM business relief portfolios since April 2025 and will impact the inheritance tax treatment of pensions from April 2027. As a result, fundraising within the unquoted business relief market is expected to grow to GBP 2.9 billion per annum by 2030, with VCT market fundraising increasing to GBP 1.2 billion per annum at the same date. Our experience of creating innovative new products that outcompete our peers in this sector, alongside great performance and continued investment in our dedicated distribution team, positions the Group to be at the forefront of this growth. Finally, across the U.K. and Ireland, a total of over GBP 2.5 billion was invested across growth, buyout, and venture transactions of between GBP 0.5 million-GBP 10 million in size.
In what is a fragmented market, we've remained one of the most active SME investors, representing a 6% share of each of these markets currently. A combination of sustained government support for regional investment, easing inflation and interest rates, and increased pension fund allocations is creating favorable tailwinds for the market. Against this backdrop, historic compound average growth rates in annual investment of 5%-6% are expected to be maintained. This positions our regional private equity strategy well to continue its consistent track record of raising and deploying capital, having more than doubled FUM in the last four years. By capitalizing on the opportunities in our key markets, we once again delivered a high level of cash generation in FY25 that enabled us to increase our total dividend distribution, something we have done every year since listing. We've also completed a first share buyback program of GBP 17 million.
In combination, these actions returned over 70% of FY25 operating cash to shareholders. Looking ahead, our 6% dividend payout ratio remains compelling. Alongside the GBP 50 million share buyback programme that we announced in April, we intend to continue to return substantially all free cash flows to shareholders. In addition, we will continue to assess EPS accretive acquisition opportunities as they arise. These include opportunities that could deliver strategic benefits to our existing offering or provide an expansion opportunity into adjacencies, as well as opportunistic M&A. Post-period end, AUM and FUM both increased to GBP 13.4 billion and GBP 9.7 billion respectively, as we achieved a strong quarter for retail fundraising that more than offset listed market net outflows.
The Group also launched a new business relief product that facilitates access to private credit for U.K. SMEs and utilizes the Group's track record with over GBP 300 million of private credit assets under management today. In addition, FEIP II and our business relief retail product completed the joint GBP 210 million acquisition of Harmony Energy Income Trust, with Harmony's battery energy storage systems portfolio highly complementary with both funds' strategic mandates. This acquisition represents a significant milestone for FEIP II as the fund's first investment following successful FY 25 fundraising and provides a platform for FEIP II to deliver further fundraising and deployment in FY 26. Finally, our Australian business recently agreed the sale of one of its major investments in leading independent power producer, Zenith Energy.
Under Foresight's ownership, Zenith has experienced significant growth from approximately 252 MW of contracted capacity at the time of acquisition to more than 710 MW capacity across 15 sites today. The sale, at a valuation materially above the fund's prior holding value for the asset, adds to the strong investment track record of our Australian team. In conclusion, our growth strategies continue to target the significant investment opportunities presented within our key markets. Our strong investment pipeline, coupled with a diversified range of products, provides us with the platform to double our profitability over the five years to FY29, with good progress towards this goal having been delivered in FY25. This growth, a high level of cash generation, and a proactive approach to capital allocation ensures that we are able to return materially all free cash flow to shareholders through dividends and the share buyback program.
Our company is built on robust foundations developed over many years. We've created a diversified and resilient business model that can deliver growth through the economic cycle by investing in the energy transition, building scalable infrastructure, and backing growth companies. Thank you, and we'll now take your questions.
Participants can submit questions in a written format via the webcast page by clicking the Ask a Question button. If you are dialed into the call and wish to ask a question, please use the raise hand function at the bottom of your Zoom screen. If you are dialing in via phone, you can raise your hand using Star 9 and unmute yourself by pressing Star 6. We'll pause a moment to assemble the queue. We'll take our first question from Tom Mills at Jefferies. Please go ahead, Tom Mills, and ask your question.
Hi, sorry, thanks. Thanks for the presentation, guys. Two questions, please. Firstly, on ARIF, I think maybe Bernard alluded to it at the end there, but could you talk about maybe the potential for writebacks that you see there after the writedown that was taken last year? I think maybe you'd seen some good potential to see those come through, so just kind of curious on that. Secondly, on FEIP II, good to see that you've closed the first deal from that fund. Perhaps could you also give us a sense? Does that indicate we should be getting the first close quite soon? How confident are you feeling around that and subsequent fundraisings and closes thereafter? Thanks very much.
Gary, would you care to take the first point, and I'll do the second?
Sure. In terms of the, you mentioned Australia, Tom, and mentioned ARIF, the original impairments were against the two other funds, DIT and EIT, and not ARIF. ARIF is unimpaired. In terms of.
Oh, apologies.
It's okay. It's an easy mistake to make. I think with respect to the impairments there, there's a definite likelihood that over the next year plus, even two years, that we'll see some of those impairments being reversed as we start to see a combination of higher fees coming through, whether that's performance fees or management fees across the Australian business. There's definitely a likelihood that we'll see some of the earlier impairments being reversed.
I think off the back of recent events, the Australian acquisition is beginning to prove itself, and I'm very pleased about that. I always had a lot of confidence in it, and it's now beginning to show it, and it will demonstrate that in future weeks. On the question of FEIP II, closing, raising money, how's it going? The answer to that is in the next few days, we'll see a formal end to the first close. Remember, we had a 1A close last year. There'll be a second part of the first close announced very shortly. We're working now quite hard on a second close, which we hope to have happen probably in September. We remain confident. Second closes and subsequent closes are always much easier than first closes. That's where the hard work gets done, because lots of people want to see you having done deals.
That is where the Harmony deal is really important, because there are many investors who quite rightly will not, or understandably rather, will not invest until they have seen a deal done. We are very happy with the Harmony deal. That is a deal which actually the money was paid yesterday or today. It has literally just happened. I think I reiterate that we will raise at least the GBP 1.25 billion that we have released to the market. I hope to exceed that. We are raising money faster than the average. It takes on average 35 months for an LP currently to raise from start to finish. We will improve on that, and I remain confident.
Very helpful. Thanks. Thanks, Bernard and Gary.
Take our next question from Alexander Bowers from Berenberg. Please unmute your line and ask your question.
Good morning, everyone. Just two questions for me, if I may. Just firstly on the retail tax-efficient products. You saw good gross inflows this year, I think an uptick from last year. I think you mentioned in the presentation pack you're sort of targeting GBP 600 million gross inflows going forwards. Can you just talk a bit about the sort of potential tailwind from pensions losing inheritance tax protection going forwards and whether that we should expect that GBP 600 million kind of tick up further as that kind of comes into full effect? The second area I wanted to ask about was the natural capital strategy. I think you've mentioned you were targeting GBP 500 million in that space when you were starting marketing this year.
Can you give us any sort of early signs in terms of what investor appetite looks like there, and sort of longer term, how big a sort of strategy do you expect that to become? Thanks.
Dealing with the retail point first, then I'll pass to Gary on natural capital. Part of our success in retail fundraising, which should not be overlooked, is performance. The inheritance tax funds, where we are now the market leader, continue to perform well, which is encouraging flows into that strategy. I think as other areas for shielding monies get closed down and as the changes to pensions come in, I can only see this product becoming even more appealing. The fact that we are now number one in the market also, I think, does have an impact in terms of our ability to be on panels and to raise money at an ever faster rate, which I believe will happen. I am very positive going forward.
In terms of the second question around natural capital, we've had a strategy through our business relief fund over the last few years, and that's already scaled to GBP [250] million. I think the GBP 500 million target, when you take into account that we'll be broadening the existing strategy beyond just the U.K. into Europe, both Ireland and continental Europe, I think GBP 500 million final close is definitely achievable for a first fund. Beyond that, I think we can certainly look at scaling that up over the next second and third vintages. I do think there's sufficient demand there. Europe has got a lot more forestation and afforestation than the U.K., which has got one of the least covered countries in Europe. I think the product is there, the demand is there, and we're just matching the two up.
I think that's what gives us the confidence. We're already starting to look at pre-marketing and have very early discussions with some potential investors which are going well.
Thank you.
As a reminder, participants can submit questions in a written format via the webcast page by clicking the Ask a Question button. If you're dialed into the call and wish to ask a question, please use the raise hand function at the bottom of your Zoom screen. We'll pause a moment for further questions. There are no further questions on the webinar. I'll now hand back to Bernard for closing remarks.
Thank you very much, everybody, for attending, and we appreciate the questions that we've received. I think I hope that we've laid out quite clearly that our business is somewhat different from most. We're in the middle of a number of significant tailwinds in terms of both private assets, the energy transition, and also not to be overlooked, private equity at the regional level, all of which are receiving certainly verbal support from governments across Europe. Therefore, we think that we are in a position to grow, to meet our targets, and as we do that, to continue returning cash to shareholders. Thank you very much, everybody, for joining. We appreciate your time, and we'll perhaps see you on the next call. Thank you.
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