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JL Infrastructure grows value
Recent FTSE-250 entrant John Laing Infrastructure Fund said yesterday its portfolio had grown faster than expected during 2011 – its first full year as a publicly listed company. The portfolio valuation of the group grew by £115.7m last year after it spent £109.5m on 10 acquisitions. Profits before tax at the firm were £23.4m, and the firm said it was in line to achieve an internal rate of return of seven to eight per cent. Paul Lester, the group’s chief executive said: “JLIF paid its first dividend in April and interim dividend in October and, combined with resilient capital growth, has delivered a total shareholder return of 12.1 per cent for the 13 month period since launch.”