16th May 2014 07:51
LONDON (Alliance News) - Residential property business Grainger PLC reported an increase in profit and revenue for the first half, boosted by profit from joint ventures
Grainger, which undertakes fund, property and asset management along with residential-led development, posted pretax profit of GBP49.8 million for the period ended March 31, up from GBP11.0 million a year earlier, boosted by profit from joint ventures and a change in fair value of derivatives.
The company benefited from GBP10.1 million in profit from joint ventures during the period compared with a GBP200,000 loss a year earlier. It also made a GBP4.9 million gain from changes in the fair value of derivatives, compared with a GBP18.6 million loss a year ago.
Revenue rose to GBP190.0 million from GBP125.2 million, as retirement solutions revenue rose to GBP104.3 million from GBP14.9 million. UK residential revenue fell to GBP69.8 million from GBP91.4 million a year ago.
During the period Grainger said it saw an increase in profit from vacant sales to GBP27.9 million, up from GBP25.3 million a year earlier, at an improved margin of 48.4% compared with 44.7%. The firm said prices achieved were 9% above vacant possession value in September.
At the period-end, net debt stood at GBP921 million, down from GBP959 million in September.
Looking ahead, the company said development schemes, such as Macaulay Walk in Clapham, should start to contribute profits from the second half of 2014.
The firm has recently launched the South London-based residential scheme, with all 27 units in the first phase now reserved. Overall the scheme will consist of 65 units for private sale.
"Our core strategy of focusing on balanced income streams, alongside our targeted geographical asset allocation with a weighting toward London and the South East of England, and our specialist active asset management, has ensured that Grainger has been ideally positioned to take advantage of current favourable market conditions," Chief Executive Andrew Cunningham said in a statement.
"As a result, we have succeeded in delivering an exceptional performance, with our assets continuing to outperform both the Halifax and Nationwide house price indices," he added.
On the back of its strong performance, the company increased its interim dividend to 0.61 pence from 0.58 pence.
Grainger shares were quoted up 2.2% at 219.70 pence Friday morning.
By Anthony Tshibangu; [email protected]; @AnthonyAllNews
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