21st May 2014 08:20
LONDON (Alliance News) - Great Portland Estates PLC Wednesday reported an increase in profit and revenue for the full year, driven largely by valuation gains.
The central London property development company posted pretax profit of GBP422.2 million for the year ended March 31, up from GBP180.6 million a year earlier, boosted by valuation gains of GBP306.9 million compared with GBP97.4 million a year earlier.
Revenue rose to GBP85.2 million from GBP69.0 million
At the period-end the company's portfolio was valued at GBP2.04 billion up from GBP1.86 billion a year earlier. The company said there were a number of key drivers behind this valuation movement including rental value growth. It said rental values grew 8.2% during the period, consisting of 7.2% and 12% increases for office and retail rental values, respectively.
In addition, the value of the company's development properties rose 31%, with Rathbone Square leading the way. Rathbone House a mixed-use scheme in central London delivered a strong valuation gain of 24%.
The company's scheme at Rathbone Square consists of 42,00 square feet of retail space, 217,000 square feet of offices and 162 residential units.
FTSE 250-listed Great Portland Estates signed 84 new lettings during the period worth GBP25.9 million a year in income. It also sold GBP422.5 million worth of assets, balanced by the GBP90 million acquisition of Oxford House, near Oxford Circus underground station.
Overall, the company said its net asset per share rose to 569 pence from 446 pence, largely due to the rise in value of the property portfolio.
Financially, net debt fell to GBP586.1 million at March 31, from GBP658.9 million as a consequence of property disposals more than offsetting acquisitions and development capital expenditure.
On the back of its strong performance the company increase its dividend to 5.4 pence from 5.3 pence, making a total dividend per share 8.8 pence from 8.6 pence
Great Portland Estates shares were quoted up 1.4% at 630.00 pence Wednesday morning.
By Anthony Tshibangu; [email protected]; @AnthonyAllNews
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