First Trust New Opportunities MLP & Energy Fund Decreases its Monthly Common Share Distribution to $0.075 Per Share for September

First Trust New Opportunities MLP & Energy Fund (the "Fund") (NYSE: FPL) has decreased its regularly scheduled monthly common share distribution to $0.075 per share from $0.105 per share. The distribution will be payable on September 17, 2018, to shareholders of record as of September 5, 2018. The ex-dividend date is expected to be September 4, 2018. The monthly distribution information for the Fund appears below.

First Trust New Opportunities MLP & Energy Fund (FPL):

Distribution per share:     $0.075 Distribution Rate based on the August 17, 2018 NAV of $10.75: 8.37% Distribution Rate based on the August 17, 2018 closing market price of $10.91: 8.25% Decrease from previous distribution of $0.105: -28.57%  

It is anticipated that, due to the tax treatment of cash distributions made by master limited partnerships ("MLPs") in which the Fund invests, a portion of the distributions the Fund makes to Common Shareholders may consist of a tax-deferred return of capital. The final determination of the source and tax status of all 2018 distributions will be made after the end of 2018 and will be provided on Form 1099-DIV.

The Fund’s monthly common share distribution is being reduced by 28.57% from $0.105 per share to $0.075 per share. This reduction reflects three factors that have lowered the Fund’s distributable cash flow: 1) Portfolio companies lowering dividend payout ratios, 2) reduced Fund borrowings, and 3) lower market volatility limiting the Fund’s ability to augment income via its covered call strategy.

The Alerian MLP Index is down 46% from its high in the third quarter of 2014. Lower unit prices and attendant higher equity financing costs are driving most MLP-structured companies toward self-financing of growth by retaining cash through lower or slower-growing cash distributions to investors. Structural simplifications, including acquisitions of lower-valued MLP subsidiaries by C-corp parents, have also contributed to lower dividend yields. For FPL this has resulted in lower dividend receipts from portfolio companies despite generally higher per-share distributable cash flow.