27th Aug 2015 06:57
LONDON (Alliance News) - Property investor Hansteen Holdings PLC on Thursday said its pretax profit in the first half surged higher as it benefited from a big rise in the value of its investment properties, and it said it will raise funds via a placing to fund a new acquisition.
The FTSE 250 company, which invests in industrial property assets in the UK and Europe, said its pretax profit in the six months to the end of June was up to GBP103.7 million from GBP66.7 million a year earlier, driven by the company making a GBP79.0 million gain on the value of its investment portfolio, compared to a GBP28.8 million gain made a year earlier. Revenue was slightly lower at GBP42.4 million, against GBP43.7 million.
Hansteen said it would pay an interim dividend of 2.1 pence per share, up 5.1% from the 2.0 pence per share it paid a year earlier.
Hansteen's property portfolio valuation rose by 7.8% in the half, as the group sold its HPUT2 portfolio for GBP192.1 million and made GBP21.5 million in other sales, while it acquired GBP22.3 million worth of property.
Hansteen's like-for-like occupancy across its portfolio improved by 5.9%, it said.
In a separate announcement on Thursday, the company said it has struck a deal to acquire a further GBP103.7 million units of the Astenne Industrial Fund. In order to fund the deal, Hansteen will raise GBP40.0 million via a share placing at a minimum of 110 pence per share. Its shares closed at 114.6 pence on Wednesday.
By Sam Unsted; [email protected]; @SamUAtAlliance
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