30th Jul 2014 10:09
LONDON (Alliance News) - Japan Residential PLC Wednesday maintained its interim dividend at 1.8 pence per share, despite reporting a fall in profit for the first-half, as it was beset by a number of issues.
The company, which acquires residential property in Japan, posted pretax profit of GBP6.8 million for the year to March 31, down from GBP8.1 million. The company made a GBP204,000 loss on fair value adjustments on interest rate swap contracts, while net foreign exchange gains were lower than in the period a year ago.
Gross rental income dipped to GBP8.4 million from GBP8.7 million, which Japan Residential blamed on a higher sterling/yen exchange rate over the period. It said new property acquisitions which contributed to higher gross rental income in yen terms should continue to generate year-on-year income growth in the second-half of the year.
Japan Residential said its portfolio is substantially larger than a year ago following the acquisition of nine properties between December of March for GBP65.2 million. By value, 88% of the portfolio is located in the three largest regional markets of Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya.
At the end of May the portfolio was valued at GBP268.9 million, up from GBP200.1 million six months earlier, reflecting valuation gains on properties held and new acquisitions, it said.
The company's net asset value per share rose to 58.9 million, compared with 58.7 pence at the end of November.
Overall, Japan Residential said that despite the recent upturn in valuations, property prices remain substantially below recent and historic peak levels.
Japan Residential shares were quoted up 0.9% at 58.65 pence Wednesday morning.
By Anthony Tshibangu; [email protected]; @AnthonyAllNews
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