Gore Street Energy Storage Fund (LSE:GSF) — Investor Presentation

0:00 Good afternoon, and welcome to the GORE STREET ENERGY STORAGE FUND PLC investor presentation. Throughout this recorded presentation, investors will be in listen only mode. Questions are encouraged, and they can be submitted at any time using the Q and A tab situated on the right hand corner of your screen. Simply type in your questions and press set. The company may not be in a position to answer every question received during the meeting itself. However, the company can review all questions submitted today and publish responses which is appropriate to do so. Before we begin, I would like to submit

0:30 the following poll. And I would now like to hand you over to Patrick Cox, nonexecutive chair. Good afternoon to you. Good afternoon. Welcome to our webinar, and thank you for taking the time to join us. I am Patrick or more generally known to my friends as Pat Cox. I'm the nonexec chairman of the GORE STREET ENERGY FUND. I would like to take the opportunity today to welcome the presence of my board colleague, Tom Merle, who will be online in sound and vision, and Lisa Senna, who will be online in sound only. In terms of our board, there's myself as chair, Caroline Banske, who's the, who's the director since the beginning in 2018 along with Tom, myself, and Malcolm Max King.

1:25 Caroline is the chair of our audit committee and the senior independent director. Max has a financial services background, for many decades. He's been there since the beginning. Tom Merleigh, is there since the beginning also. And, Tom has been, over the years a specialist, on both sides of the Atlantic in the renewable energy sector. And, last but not least is Lisa, Lisa Senna, who joined us in 2023, with a strong experience in real estate infrastructure and fund management, in various different countries. So, that is our, that is our board. And, this morning, just to to bring you up to date, we published a an RNS setting out our strategy, for the coming period, and also published our response to the requisition for an EGM.

2:28 Before I get to the EGM part, could I just share with you some of the headline strategic goals, and issues around capital allocation, which we have announced this morning? As you know, we'd already announced an independent review. This was covered in our full year results in July. That review has now been completed, and that is the foundation upon which we publish the detailed strategic plan today on which there are four principal elements. Element number one tries to address how we can mobilize the value, in a value accretive way for shareholders of the 495 megawatts of preconstruction assets. We believe that we can realize value from these assets and that it can support value creation for shareholders.

3:17 It can do this by unlocking capital for deployment in higher return opportunities or for supporting the payment of dividends to shareholders, and it can be used also to enhance operational performance of existing assets by demonstrating a disciplined capital allocation and value realization proposition. We hope and believe that this can help to narrow to narrow the discount at which our ordinary shares currently are trading to net asset value. The second pillar is to increase the duration of key Great Britain and Irish assets to capture additional value and revenue to be funded in the first instance, in the coming period from existing cash and existing debt facilities and loan facilities already in place.

4:09 And then, of course, for a later phase to ally this deepening in terms of augmentation of assets through the sale of preconstruction assets that I mentioned in principle point number one. We also want to increase our revenue through the in house proprietary revenue optimization models. These are driving outperformance for our fund against industry benchmarks, and we will, in the coming period, look at the emerging toll and floor price arrangements to further reduce revenue volatility. Although I should say with our resource adequacy agreement in California and existing arrangements in Northern Ireland, 30% of our portfolio is already hedged in this particular way.

5:04 Then we have a focus on further cost reductions. As you know, in response to our consultation with so many shareholders recently, we have negotiated a reduction in the management fee and various other performance, dimensions, but the investment manager will continue to focus on operating and financing cost reductions, including, a desire to reduce, borrowing costs. Let me turn now if I could to the question on the, resolutions, that are, before us for the, for the EGM. The the the background to these resolutions is that over the past year in particular, we have brought our platform to the highest level ever of future earning potential, more than doubling the revenue generation capacity in terms of assets that are now operational.

6:09 And it is on the top of that platform that we want to build the plan that I mentioned. We now have close to one gigawatt hour of operational assets. So our view as a board, our unanimous recommendation as a board is to vote against all resolutions proposed by RM last week in their EGM requisition. We believe, Paula, could you switch the slide for me, please? We we believe that we we are in

6:41 a good position to realize long term value creation. The company, as you know, was, launched in, in 2018. And since then, we've returned £122,000,000 by way of dividends to shareholders, excluding the special dividend of three p expected later this year. This is in addition to the quarterly dividend payments expected for this financial year, which brings the minimum dividend to five and a quarter p for the financial years for the financial year. Shareholders have supported the company through years of construction and development in what has been a very volatile market. And these risks have been borne entirely by existing investors.

7:29 The company has achieved, scale and a cash generating portfolio in excess of 750 megawatts or 920 megawatt hours. That is a doubling of those assets during 2025. We have in that in that period, what we want to do, as I've said earlier, is to build on this, going forward. And the board unanimously believes that the, EGM process is an unnecessary distraction that brings additional cost to the company and has the potential to derail a strategy that we believe is and can be a winning strategy for value enhancement.

8:17 The performance of the, company's portfolio, demonstrates the strength of the strategy since, IPO in spite of recent share volatility across the infrastructure investment company sector, the company still remains on track to deliver sustainable long term value and has, been that has been really the foundation of the carefully considered strategy that we're putting forward. We believe that the strategic pathway outlined today will help to address the company's share price share price discount. If we look at it, we've had a 40% revenue outperformance per megawatt compared to listed peer groups in The United Kingdom.

9:08 Under our energy, storage route to market algorithm, we have outperformed modal benchmarks by 11%, and we expect to get further cost efficiencies from, this kind of service. Let me just switch slides, if I may.

9:32 In terms of future strategy, we have, as a board, engaged in very extensive shareholder consultation. We have listened carefully to the feedback which we got, and we have examined carefully what the capital allocation policy should be going forward. While clear progress has been made, especially over the last twelve months with, as I've said, more than doubling the revenue generating capacity of our portfolio,

10:05 the company also holds the additional almost 500 megawatts of preconstruction assets. As highlighted earlier, the company has carefully constructed a new capital allocation plan with four key sources of capital, selective asset disposals, investment partnerships, potential use of nonrecourse project financing, and a review of a range of revenue strategies, including floor and tolling contracts given the improved market opportunity,

10:39 also for longer duration batteries and a very significant fall in CapEx prices, all of this supported by the independent review, We plan to augment two GB assets, immediately in the coming period and to augment additional assets from, 2026. So we've got the sources of capital identified and various uses for capital, also identified in the current planning process.

11:10 Let me come down to shareholder support. In May and June of this year, the board conducted a roadshow to better understand the perspectives of shareholders. These conversations reinforced the need to ensure that the manager's fee was more aligned with the size of the company, specifically with its market capitalization and not just with its net asset

11:34 value. And these changes are due to be implemented from the first of October of this year. Another outcome was the appointment of the independent adviser, and their review and the full strategy can be found on the website.

11:55 Let me turn then to the question of the directors and their independence. All of today's directors are independent of the investment manager in line with good governance. None receives any performance fees or incentive based remuneration. Crucially, no director has been appointed on behalf of a single shareholder. All directors have skin in the game, holding shares, and are aligned with shareholder interests. I personally hold over 240,000 shares purchased at an average price some time back of 110p per share. The board has been intentionally constructed to encompass the appropriate mix of skills and knowledge relevant to the company, such as financial services, audit, investment trusts, asset management, and renewable energy investment.

12:52 The board is concerned with RM FUND selected nominees as they are not expected to act completely independently of RM funds. Indeed, one of the nominees has been described as a wind down specialist, an individual known for joining boards of investment companies to restructure and start a managed runoff of portfolios. We want to wind up. We don't want to wind down.

13:21 For the reasons that I just set out, the directors unanimously recommend shareholders to vote against all the resolutions to be proposed at at the requisitioned general meeting. And, again, just to summarize, we're delivering on our investment mandate. We've broadened our commercial operations more than doubling our cash generating capacity for the future during the course of this year. We're in five diversified markets, has given us more revenue per megawatt than our peer group funds in The United Kingdom. The company has a positive outlook, has a strategic plan to increase revenue from existing assets led by a strong and independent board.

14:09 In the twelve months to the June 30, our share price total return was 12.2% with further value creation anticipated.

14:19 And the board believes, as I said, that ORM FUND's activist intentions are self serving and that Ordm FUND's interests are not aligned with the general interest of all shareholders. We position the company, we believe, well for sustainable long term value creation, and we believe this would be put at risk of being derailed by an activist investor via its own nominee board members. And as I said, one of the RM Fund's proposed nominees has a track record for joining the boards of investment companies to restructure and start managed runoffs of portfolios. We believe an independent board is critical to representing the interest of all shareholders and not the interest of one particular or a small number of shareholders.

15:14 The board is concerned that RM FUND's selected nominees may not act completely

15:20 independently of RM funds. I would now like to hand over, if I could, to Paula Traviso to take us through the next steps concerning the requisition meeting. Thank you, Pat. Now before we get to q and a, let's go through some details of the requisition itself. Just passing the slide. Thank you. Sorry. It was just someone is also controlling. There you are. As you may know, on the July 16, RM announced the requisition for a general meeting. The requisition only came one day ahead of the GSF annual results. Annual results were published as per the expected date, the preannounced date of publication, being on the July 17.

16:12 The resolutions comprised the removal of two of

16:15 the current independent directors of the company Pat just went through. So the directors urge you to vote against those resolutions on the EGM that is scheduled for the August 20, three weeks time. Now this slide in front of you, this is how to vote in the EGM itself. Every vote will count, and each vote is incredibly important. Shareholders should ensure that they vote to have their say in the future of their company. All shareholders can and are encouraged to vote and, to vote against the resolutions. If you are ordering your share, if you hold those shares not directly, please arrange for the nominees to vote on the your behalf. The company's proxy voting deadline is August 18, so two days before the EGM itself.

17:02 We do recommend you to do so as soon as possible. All the proxy forms are available. If you hold those shares through a platform, be aware that, your platform may have a deadline for voting earlier than the August 18 itself, so do check with your platform regarding their own key dates. A summary of how to vote, like I said, is presented in summary within this slide, but we also have published full details in the circular of which we published this morning.

17:33 This presentation will be available on the website alongside the circular and alongside further information around that requisition itself. But any further questions, do use the IR email of which you can have fully accessed through the website of the company. Now on q and a, I will hand back quickly to the IMC platform team to give details, on how to submit your questions. Fantastic. Thank you, Paula and Patrick. Thank you very much indeed for your presentation.

18:04 Ladies and gentlemen, please do continue to submit your questions using the q and A tab situated on the top right corner of your screen. While the company take a few moments to review those questions submitted today, I would like to remind you that a recording of this presentation along with a copy of the slides and the published Q and A can be accessed via your investor dashboard. And team, as you can see, we have received a number of questions throughout today's presentation. And, Paul, if I may now hand back to you to chair the q and a, read out the questions where appropriate to do so, and I'll pick up from you at the end. Thank you. Thank you. Just a reminder, you can submit questions to Pat and other directors presented on this call today. Tom and Lisa, I will ask you how to put your cameras on. We also have Alex Okaneda, CEO of the manager, GORE STREET Capital. So questions can come to the board of directors and to the manager as well.

18:52 I'll start with some of the pre submitted questions. They came through this this morning ahead of the webinar. Very first one, the majority of the board has served for around seven years. What plans

19:05 are in place to refresh the board?

19:12 Mister chair Tom is the chair of our remuneration nominations committee. We've already set out in various communications and where we're at. But, Tom, I hand over to you to give, an update on the current position on, board and nomination and recruitment. Certainly. Thank you, Pat, and greetings to all the shareholders. Thank you for attending the meeting. As to, the succession planning, we started that in earnest last year. We appointed an independent, recruiter specializing in in board placements. They handle a large number of investment trust boards in terms of replacement, and we did a specification looking looking to replace two directors, myself with my energy expertise, and Max King, who was,

20:03 initially, on the investment trust financial services sector. And we launched that process early in the year, and we identified shortlist of good qualified directors. In the spring, and I think this goes to a little bit to one of the other questions, we began considering that a strategic review is gonna be necessary. We didn't want to prejudge what we would need in terms of directorships until we completed that strategic review. So we got to a point of a shortlist on candidates. We suspended that offer and said we'd be coming back to them. We've now restarted that process with our shortlisted candidates and the recruiters to bring on one board member by the end of the year to compliment me and eventually replace me on the energy side, and another one hopefully early next year to take on the role and provide the expertise that Max King has provided on the board.

21:01 Those are well in process. The, we have reached back out to our

21:05 shortlist of candidates and hope to be making an announcement soon. Pat, Alex, is there anything else you'd like me to add to that? No. I think, you know, this is well in hand. The reasons for suspension have been explained. That has been restarted, and the product of all that exercise will be revealed to the market as soon as we have confirmations.

21:27 Pat, if I could just add one thing to that, which I should have mentioned. One of the reasons for suspect for suspending it was although we had good candidates, we wanted to make sure that given what the strategy was going to be going forward and its emphasis that we had the right candidate in terms of the energy space out of the ones we had. And we're now certain that the shortlist are the right candidates and are moving forward. But we wanted to make sure we are gonna have the right talent coming forward, not because of what the company needed in the past, but what it was going to need going forward. Thank you both. Another question pre submitted. In your pipeline, are there any possibilities for geographic extensions beyond countries which were where you now operate?

22:18 I think the short answer to that is potentially yes, but it has to be, value accretive. But perhaps this is a question that Alex's investment manager might like to, pick up in terms of geographic diversity. Thank you. Thank you, chair. So, as we sit here today, we are very focused on the augmentation of our GB assets in the phase one and then augmentation in phase two, as we look across into the, into the Irish market. So though we continuously, assess opportunities, what I would say is we are focused on the present portfolio, which is of scale, of robust nature, delivering really strong cash flows, and that is our focus as we sit here today. Thank you, Pat. Thank you, Alex. Is it, is it board's view that the activist investor calling for change is seeking to cash in in the short term?

23:14 Look. As you've heard the the unanimous recommendation of the board, we think that we have developed and particularly the past twelve months has brought forward the best revenue generating platform that this company and fund has had since its foundation in 2018. This is the time to build value, not to take value out of it. And our anxiety is that an activist shareholder with own nominees on the board will wish to bring this in a very different kind

23:45 of direction, which is precisely why we've made a very clear and unanimous, recommendation that the EGM resolutions should be rejected because those who have put their money in, gone the course, lived with the volatility, and who now see this fantastic, platform with more revenue generating capacity than we've ever had, to see that taken apart prematurely would be value destructive and not value accretive. And that's why we want to proceed along the lines of building on this powerful base and add ons through augmentation and through capital recycling in the way we explained earlier on.

24:34 Thank you. Why is the company announcing augmentation only now when other peers like GRID and Harmony implemented theirs years ago? Perhaps one for the manager. Yeah. Happy to take. So for us, looking at augmentation, it is purely a question of the math. Presently, the portfolio operates four hour duration in California, two hours in in Texas, ninety minutes in Germany, between half an hour and one hour

25:04 in Ireland, and just over one hour in GB. So we're operating multiple duration systems in individual markets. For us, it's what's the incremental revenue against the incremental CapEx. What we have today is a really fast declining CapEx environment, and so our ability to build augmentation in a very efficient way is at a much lower cost. Three years ago, this augmentation would have cost three x the price that it costs today. So the return on invested capital for shareholders, it has is at best ever level. We

25:36 are modeling out a mid teens IRR and mid teens cash yield for the augmentation that we've already started procurement for, And so we believe this is correctly timed right for shareholder value. Thank you, Alex. One from Tony l. On selling preconstruction assets, Land for battery assets is not going to get any cheaper over time. So how would you maximize future growth if you sell off those assets early? Why not lease them instead?

26:10 So let let me take a a first response, and perhaps Alex, you would like to come in then as well or or Tom. The issue is not to take the 495 megawatts of preconstruction assets and just flog them off to the market, whatever the price would be. We bought in assets. We have, held on to them, nurtured them, and developed them in various ways. And if we are selling assets, we expect to sell them at a premium. The purpose then to being released in to

26:40 release capital to further augment investments of the sort Alex has just, spoken about a a moment ago. In respect of the sale that's won, there are other assets where we have a very strong sense that we may be able to get co investment partners. If we do, of course, that means we have to share some of the revenue potential. But we have some assets in the portfolio that require very substantial capital investment that we believe would be hugely accretive to value. But in terms of funding,

27:19 we would like through co investment to avoid heavy leveraging and costly debt on the scale that has brought peer group companies into considerable difficulties over the past eighteen months to two years. Alex, you on that one? Yeah. So I I would echo those comments. It is not around disposal at any cost. Absolutely not. The we continue to add value to our preconstruction assets. The optimal sign to to sell a preconstruction asset if that was the best outcome is very close to the construction date. That's when it's the asset is derisked as much as possible. But we're looking at multiple structures with multiple types of partners around both co investment and full disposal, but be assured that capital will be accretive whether it is reinvesting into the portfolio or doing or running as a co investment. So it is there's multiple opportunities for us to continue to add value to these projects, and we'll assess them on a deal by deal basis. But we're well advanced in terms of conversations to the market about who to partner with and what format.

28:24 Thank you both. From Andrew asked, do GSF directors get any money from GSE, the manager? No. We are we are paid fixed remuneration. It's published in the annual report. And, this year on our remuneration nominations committee many months back, we decided, despite having some presentations about market alignment with various fees, that we would freeze directors' fees. This has been a trying year, and we felt we shouldn't take anything additional on the back of what has been a tough year for shareholders.

29:03 Thank you, Pat. From Steven V. What is a sustainable, fully covered dividend? Perhaps one for manager and directors as well. How about you go first, Pat? If you if you That's true. So I think let's look at the the track record. Of two of the last three years, this this portfolio achieved a revenue level per megawatt if, multiplied by the present operational capacity would have achieved a dividend available for shareholders of over 7 p. Last year, which was the lowest year of the three years, we still achieved very strong revenues, best revenues against our peer group, but down from the previous two years, and that is where the directors have chosen to baseline dividends going forward.

29:50 We believe that there is good upside in that number given the performance we've had over the last three years. So, again, two of the last three years, we achieved revenue levels of £15 per megawatt. If multiplied by our present operational capacity, would achieve a dividend, dividend levels of over 7 p. But dividend set in terms of last year is a lower level, a minimum, but we really believe there's good upside to that given our track record. Tom, would you like to come in with a board comment on the dividend policy going forward?

30:21 Yeah. Certainly. Think as we approach this at at at our most recent board meeting and providing guidance, we wanted to make sure that we could hand over hearts, say what the dividend would be, and perhaps it might be fair to say we chose a worst case Yeah. Downside case situation to base guidance going forward. We as a board do believe that there's more upside in the dividends. Small amounts of revenue shifts in our diversified markets can change that. I'd emphasize that, you know, the the dividend forecast is underpinned by strong contracts for half of our revenues in California. And, again, based on the historic revenues over the last twelve months with no upswing. And we thought that this was the right thing to do. And be honest, rather than go back and forth with some dividend maybe higher and not deliver, we would rather underpromise and overdeliver.

31:17 And, also, we wanted to make sure that we weren't in a position where dividends are being suspended. And I think as we mentioned in our peer group, dividends were on, dividends were off. We have never done that, but we're providing conservative guidance going forward that we hope and have good reason to believe the manager will be able to be. Thank you all. From Marcus j, how did you come to choose Alexa Capital as independent adviser, and can you expand upon the work that was undertaken by Alexa? Well, let let me come to the choice process, and I might ask Tom to come in on the the work or Alex. We, as a board, developed a request for proposals.

32:06 We sent it to a number of specialist outsiders. We produced in the end a short list of three potentials. The full board, interviewed the different potential candidates, and at the end of that process came to the view that given their sectoral specialism and experience that we would go to Alexa Capital. So they were the end of the process, not the beginning, and that process was settled, I think, with considerable objectivity. The board acted, correctly because we wanted advice for the board, independently of, the investment manager. We conducted that process.

32:52 We did our shortlisting. We followed due process, and we made a unanimous choice. Tom, do you want to pick up a bit on the, strategy dimension of that? Certainly. And I I wanna add on the process. We we we approached some specialist people that work, advisers that work heavily in the renewable energy and storage space. We also talked to some broader, more generalist firms. And part of that process that led the board to select Alexa was the larger generalist firms actually have less experience in this sector than people like Alexa who's because the transactions tend to be smaller. Large investment banks just don't get involved in this some of the smaller transaction these days.

33:38 In terms of process, we we instructed Alexa to look at, you know, our our current you know, to whether the assumptions that we use in the current valuations in calculating NAV were consistent with the market assumptions and the transactions that they are seeing. That would include everything from inflation assumptions, revenue assumptions, operating and CapEx assumptions, and they came back and confirmed that our fundamental assumptions are in line with the market and what they see in terms of value you know, how other parties value, particularly in the private sector. So we got strong confirmation on NAV. We then also asked them to look at strategies about how we do more value, whether we take on additional indebtedness, how we look at hedging our revenues further in terms of the market like we've done in California, how do we look at raising new capital, and then bringing on partners.

34:37 So it was a broad review, and they came back and and confirmed to us that there are indeed people that'd be interested in partnering with us for our assets. They confirmed that there is a market for our preconstruction pipeline. People are looking for assets that they can continue to build out either through a straight sale or through partnership with us because they're they they reflected the board's approach to a more conservative approach to indebtedness Mhmm. Which I think has stood us well. And I think, finally, they brought some light to us that was, that we had begun to understand, but we were I don't wanna say that we were it was stronger than we thought, and that's about the hedging opportunities for the market and the strength of it. You know, clearly, the the team has done a good job in hedging in California.

35:30 They're doing the revenue enhancement. We have seen our peer group do some hedging products, which we felt were not quite appropriate for us at the time given that we didn't need to hedge at a low point in the market. But clearly, the hedging cap floor other arrangements are emerging, and that gave us confidence to work with the manager to begin to explore how can we use those to create more value in our portfolio. And these are often products that simply were not available twelve to eighteen months ago. Look. Can I just make one very brief comment, Paul, if I may, on the on the the back of that? Alex can come in if you want. We've reduced volatility very considerably through the contracts we've got. We've we've tripled the amount of our revenue, coming through contracted revenue from around 10%, which was the uncapped Ireland floor in Northern Ireland, through to the resource adequacy agreement in California.

36:27 We're up to about 30% of contracted revenue and indeed for The United States, de risked through currency hedging in the event of significant exchange rate changes. And we are open to explore tolling and cap positions and so on if we believe that the bottom line revenue outcome is accretive to additional shareholder value. So the issue will be analyzed again on a case by case basis, but we are very open with this new environment that has been described by, my colleague, Tom, and that has been brought to our attention in some detail by Alexa Capital to see what else is out there that gives us comfort to do with predictable lines of sight on future streams of revenue.

37:20 Thank you, Pat. Thank you, Tom. From David b, do you see any advantage in retaining the German asset given that none of the other assets are in Continental Europe? Perhaps one to Alex. Yeah. So it it's a it's a great asset. It's producing really strong revenues for us, strong EBITDA. The the cost of running the assets is, is no more than than other assets. We don't have a disadvantage that it's the only Continental Europe asset. So it's an asset which adds in diversification, admittedly at a small level because it's a small asset compared to the rest of the portfolio, but it's producing very strong cash flows for us. So there's no need to look at that asset and say, because it is our only asset in Germany that we should dispose, it is a highly profitable asset for us and adds to the overall portfolio.

38:13 Thank you, Alex. From Sheila, hello. Do the board consider GB investments offer better and safer than The US portfolio? So we as you've seen, we've had a a process of market diversification almost from the beginning. Alex, correct me if I'm wrong, but I think already from 2019, in addition to GB assets, went into Republic Of Ireland. And on The US assets, the board had a very considerable focus. Indeed, Tom Worley and I traveled on behalf of the board to, look at those assets at a late stage of completion earlier this year because, as you will all recall in terms of market anxieties, this were constantly drawn to the board's attention, about whether we would deliver on the investment tax credits or not, that all came through. So when you're asking the question about, the diverse, portfolio spread, we see that as a plus of the GORE STREET FUND.

39:18 We see it because we know that if you compare the revenue per megawatt, we have over the full portfolio significantly outperformed our GB only peer group, and we've done that because of the diverse revenue streams across, unconnected and separate energy markets. So we've seen that as a plus. The one case I would see where, there may have been some market commentaries, around this was when, the sale of Harmony was announced. I think there was a certain analyst carryover saying, well, that probably has good news implications for Grid because they are essentially a GB based asset base.

40:09 In our case, as I say, if you look at the objective information, having the spread we've got, not having all our legs in one basket has proved to be a winning formula that has produced outperforming returns versus any of the peer group alternatives in The United Kingdom. Yeah. Perhaps I'll just add to that. Thank you, Pat. So I think that's it. We are we generated last year £86,000 per megawatt for for annually. Our GBS produced £65,000 per megawatt. That's still 10% above our peer. So added in considerable differential outperformance, It does so in a supply chain, which is the same supply chain. So we work with the same supply chain to build these assets. We're doing more or less the same type of revenue opportunities, different regulations.

41:00 And so, therefore, with the correct hedging in place as we put in place in terms of currency, this differentiated income is diversified and therefore lower volatility and producing higher absolute returns. Thank you, Pat. Thank you, Alex. There's one question from Marco. What is the average acquisition share price of RM funds into GORE? I can respond that, and then I will open to directors should they like with my IR hat. Wireless, we don't really have a precise figure. Obviously, we looked at public information and the monthly variations, within the share base. Based on what we've seen, in the last twelve months of which RM increased, their share from, well, one to 2% to up to 6%.

41:47 We're seeing a share price acquisition in the last period of circa six t p. As a continuation to that question then and to directors now, does the board see any merit in any of the proposals put forward by RM? This is coming from Miguel. Well, I think if you look at the strategy we've got, we don't claim to have a monopoly of wisdom, but we've gone out and had a strategic review. We've had a very intense strategy, conversation, board to board and board to investment manager, and we believe that we have, found a formula to unlock further value to add to the very significant value chain that doubled its revenue earning potential in the course of the, past twelve months to be fully realized in the future, because the assets in the past twelve months, of course, have not been, all operational, but have been coming on stream.

42:42 And I think, to the extent that there are overlaps between what RM would like to do and what we're doing, then we're happy to see those as coterminous. But the idea that we would begin now to contemplate potentially a write down of value, a sell down of assets, based on some of the nominees that have been mentioned, I think would not be in the interest of shareholders. And that's why, after due reflection, we have unanimously, determined to invite shareholders to reject the RM resolutions at the EGM. Thank you, Pat. One coming from Mark B on US assets and some on the ITCs as well. Could you update us on timing of USA preconstruction assets? Is there a near term deadline to get investment tax credits, or has this already been missed? Potentially, one for the manager.

43:45 Yeah. So in president Trump's I hate to use the term, but the big beautiful bill, energy storage, unlike solar and wind, had remains ITC eligible. So the tax credits are available for our preconstruction assets, and so they they remain. And so if and when we choose to build the preconstruction assets and this is really our our preconstruction assets in in Texas, though we do have augmentation opportunities in later years, but it's it's a few years out in in both Dogfish and Big Big Big Rock. ITC will be available. The big, beautiful bill allowed energy storage to maintain, the eligibility for credits. I I would just add a remark, if if I may. I referred earlier to commentary and anxiety about whether the investment tax credits would come through.

44:39 You may imagine this was a point of considerable focus on the board, and with the investment manager, And I'm happy to say that, all of those, elements have been signed and sealed and the funds have started to flow with some tranches still due later this year from the Big Rock investment tax credit. What I would say from the point of view of the board at the present time, given the the somewhat mercurial uncertainties of elements of United States public policy, I think the the board would need to be thoroughly convinced of making additional net new investments in The United States during the current turbulent policy environment.

45:30 But, of course, remain open to consider anything that would add value and that would have a guaranteed policy perspective that would not be subject to short term or erratic change. Pat, did I just add a a little thing to that as part of the decision? I I think as Pat mentioned, I've spent my thirty five year plus career in renewable energy on both sides of the pond. And in The US, it it's a very interesting debate right now. Costs have come down substantially. Alex is correct. Battery storage continues to be eligible through the better part of the rest of this decade for the tax credits, which is when they all were going to expire anyway.

46:19 That's just sort of The US system. But the other thing is it's this interplay with with tariffs, which someone had mentioned. And as it was put to me by a couple people very succinctly that I speak with, this is an industry that can work in The US without tax incentives because of where the grids are and the pricing and the need for storage. And it's one that can work without it could work without those incentives, but it can't work without the incentives plus high tariffs. And so we're in this unique situation for storage where no matter what the tariffs are, the other parts of the sectors, wind and solar can sustain in The US with the tax with the with the tax credits and the tariffs. It's the removal of the tax credit and the imposition of tariffs.

47:13 So battery is already a leg ahead of those other sectors. And, yeah, the current tariff proposals being done in the, that the Trump administration is cutting are lower rates than people who had expected. So I think the other element in this is it's partially tax credits. It's partially tariffs. We keep a close eye on it, but storage remains a favorite sector in The US. Thank you, Tom. One coming from Andrew S. In case you have, access to excess cash, example, sale of assets, will you pay a special dividend to shareholders? I think to to to answer that question right now would be premature, but I did indicate in my earlier remarks that if we have cash availability, part of it is to have the capital to be able to do the things we want. But we are very conscious of the fact, fully reinforced in our consultations, in recent weeks and months with shareholders that the dividend policy matters greatly to our base, which includes such a wide level of retail engagement in terms of investment.

48:32 So that that is, of course, always on our mind. And as Tom explained earlier, what we put out there by way of guidance this year is, I think, a lowball estimate. We hope we can top that, but we wanted to be sure that anything we say is fully covered. And if there are good times rolling in on top of that, then shareholders are entitled to presume that they can get to share in the upsides. Yeah. Well, I would only add that in this recent history, so ITC, which was a strong result for the fund, we'd sell we sold those credits above guidance, and board chose to repay debt, which is a which absolutely the right thing to do, allocate capital to augmentation, and also to pay a special dividend. So so board has history here of demonstrating to shareholders return of capital and the use of capital in appropriate ways versus debt, growth, and shareholder returns.

49:31 Thank you both. From Ben, as we've heard RM is launching an activist fund, is this requisition part of that same strategy? Well, I I mean, you know, I can't speak for RM. I do know that, they want to launch or had tried to launch a catalyst fund. I don't know if it's taken off or not. It sets out in its, in its deck, the kind of things that they, would like to propose for institutional investors to invest in the fund. What I can say is there is an uncanny parallelism between the strategy outlined in the slide deck, for the desired IPO and the strategy now being deployed with regard to ourselves and the GORE STREET FUND.

50:23 But in the end of the day, what RM does in terms of a catalyst fund or not, whether it gets to launch or not, is not our business. Our business is to try to focus on overall shareholder value. We value RM as a shareholder, but there's 94% of the portfolio held by others. And our duty as a board is to have regard to what I might call the principle of the common good. Thank you, Pat. What's been the general feedback from investors regarding the requisition? Do you believe it has enough support? I I believe that the the board, on this will prevail.

51:12 We have spent an intense period of time just to to locate this, working our way through the strategy review, working our way towards the RNS policy, developing the circular, which was published and shared this morning with regard to the August 20, EGM. And I have spent every hour today, all day, on points of contact, and will deepen that, in the in the days to come. I know that you, Paula and Alex, have already been in touch with a number of the shareholders, and I understand from you that the feedback from those has been positive. Yes. We've already received support from critical large shareholders.

51:57 One does need to look at this in context. It seems to us that these proposals from our our OEM are chaotic. They are proposing to put on to, put put replacement directors on the board. One of them has no investment company experience, limited energy experience, and one who has a, without doubt, a challenging track record in his work on investment boards. They're talking they're asking to replace the chair of audit, not just the chair, but the chair of audit, and neither of the replacements are accountants. So it just seems to us chaotic. That's a share that's a viewpoint shared by, the shareholders, and we expect absolutely, to defeat their resolutions. Thank you both. In the interest of time, I'll wrap up with one last question from ENT.

52:46 Do feel free to submit your questions to manager or board directly via email. But why should investors invest in GSF? Can you articulate the investment case in a couple of minutes? The investment case that I want to articulate is to say again, to go back, as I've said several times already, in the course of the past several years and especially in the course of the last year, we have brought our revenue earning asset base to the highest peak it's ever been at, not too far shy of one gigawatt hour of earnings potential. This good baseline, we believe, can have real value added in the line of the strategy that we were sharing with you earlier today, and we believe that ultimately that is in the interest of shareholders and is a good investable proposition.

53:44 I think in in looking at that, you have to flip the coin and look at the alternative. If shareholder value matters to you, do you think, taking assets out, selling them quickly, turning them into cash, and moving on is the way that is going to redeem the value, particularly for those who've got a shareholding over a long period of time and who bought in, at a at a higher share price. We think the path we're on in terms of its base point is the best it's ever been, and in terms of its projected future, possibilities is as good as we can make it. And we are determined in full consultation with shareholders to continue to drive in the direction of adding to shareholder value and seeking to close, that, gap, which is disappointing, but which is there, the the discount gap between share price and that. There are other things we don't control, the macroeconomics and so on. I'm not going to deviate into all of that. What we can control, we've delivered on, and what we plan to deliver, we intend to do.

55:00 Thank you, Patrick, Paula, and the rest of the team for addressing those questions for investors today. And, Patrick, before we redirect investors to provide you with their feedback, which is particularly important to the company, could I please ask you for a few closing comments? Well, let let me come in terms of closing comments. Firstly, to, thank you all for taking the time to, to join us, today. Thank you very much for your questions. I don't know because I've just been taking them there on on the live feed. If there are other questions that need to be answered, of course, between the manager and ourselves, we can get around to that. I just have put up a slide here I want you to focus on with me for a moment on key dates. In terms of events, the latest time and date for receipt of forms of proxy and electronic proxy appointments for the requisition's general meeting, 1PM on the August 18, and voting can start now.

56:00 On the requisitioned, general meeting, again, 1PM on the August 20, and the announcement of results of the requisition general meeting on the August 20. And I come to the point, suppose I finish on behalf of the board, unanimously, recommending against all resolutions at the meeting on the August 20, and we look forward to your continued support and to our continued positive work on your behalf. Thank you for joining us, and good afternoon. Thank you all once again for updating investors today. Could I please ask investors not to close this session as you will now be automatically redirected to provide your feedback in order that the board can better understand your views and expectations?

56:46 This will only take a few moments to complete, and I'm sure will be greatly valued by the company. On behalf of the management team of GORE STREET ENERGY STORAGE FUND PLC, we would like to thank you for attending today's presentation, and good afternoon to you all.