Hannon Armstrong Sustainable Infrastructure Capital, Inc. (NYSE:HASI) Q2 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

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Chris Souther: Got it. Okay. I guess that’s for you to predict the wind. So maybe just on the pipeline mix dynamic, there’s an uptick in behind the meter. I’m curious if that reflects additional partners, customers, any specific subsectors that are getting more exciting that you could call out that would be great.

Marc Pangburn: We have some new clients in there, Chris? The behind the meter side is mostly community solar, energy efficiency and resi solar. And there’s a lot in the pipeline from longstanding clients in those asset classes, but there are several transactions also from some new clients as well as we expand our business.

Chris Souther: Got it. Okay. That’s helpful. I’ll hop in the queue. Thanks, guys.

Operator: Next question, Ben Kallo with Baird. Please go ahead.

Ben Kallo: Hi. Good evening. Thanks for taking my question. Just on the restructure, does it change anything, Jeff, on the way you think about either the distribution rate for your dividend or the capital structure? I know you guys for a long time, I think, had like a 2.5 leverage ratio.

Jeff Lipson: No, Ben, it really doesn’t. I think the leverage profile of less than 2.5, it will be unchanged as a result of the tax selection. And I think the trajectory of dividends will be unchanged as well. On Investor Day, Marc, for instance, alluded to by 2030, the payout ratio being in that 50% to 60% range. I think that’s a reasonable way to think about the business with more retained capital over time that the dividend will continue to grow, but will grow at a slower pace than earnings. And so the roughly 70% payout ratio we had this year will gradually decline accordingly. So I think that’s the way to think about the business.

Ben Kallo: Thank you. As we see your portfolio yield pick-up, often we think that you might be taking on more risk. Could you just talk to that a little bit? If anything has changed, I know you gave the examples there, but maybe just how you guys continue to look at different investment opportunities. Thank you.

Jeff Lipson: Good question, Ben. And the answer is no, we’re not taking on a different risk profile in order to obtain the higher yield. The higher yield is a function of higher base rates. So in many of the investments we’ve made for many years at the same risk profile, we’re now achieving a higher yield naturally with the base rates higher and with more revenue to the projects because of some of the dynamics there. And then in some of the new asset classes, particularly in FTN, we’re also achieving a higher yield because they’re a bit less mature than some of our traditional asset classes. But from a risk profile perspective, they’re really very, very similar. On Investor Day, we talked about the six attributes that virtually all of our investments have and as we have expanded into FTN, we’ve maintained those six attributes as our risk profile and the way we think about the business. So we have not taken on more risk in order to achieve this higher yield.

Operator: Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for your participation. This does conclude today’s teleconference. You may disconnect your lines and have a wonderful day.

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