On paper, the investment case for Contour Global is, quite literally, electric. It buys, develops, owns and operates power generating plants, using traditional fossil fuels, such as coal, as well as renewable sources, such as solar and wind. Because the need for power provision is relentless and has to be paid for, it generates so much cash that, in some instances, it has been capable of paying off debts running into the high hundreds of millions that it has amassed buying plants in less than a year.
For the same reason, the company is a dividend-paying machine, promising to double its adjusted earnings before tax and other items over the five years to 2022 and to increase its shareholder payout, paid quarterly, by 10 per