27th Apr 2016 10:45
LONDON (Alliance News) - Panther Securities PLC on Wednesday said its pretax profit almost doubled in 2015 as property revaluations came in "much higher" than 2014 and the company did not book the same loss on derivative financial liabilities as it did a year earlier.
The property investment company said its pretax profit for the year ended December 31 was GBP8.5 million, up from GBP4.4 million a year earlier, despite revenue coming in largely flat at GBP14.4 million from GBP14.8 million.
This was because Panther Securities made a GBP1.1 million profit on disposal of investment properties in 2015, having booked a GBP57,000 loss a year earlier, and the company made a fair value gain on derivative financial liabilities of GBP1.6 million. A year earlier, Panther Securities reported a loss on derivative financial liabilities of GBP9.8 million.
The company also said the value of its investment properties rose by a further GBP3.9 million in 2015, having increased by GBP13.3 million a year earlier.
During the year, Panther Securities sold its Barhead, Glasgow site for GBP236,000, which, although a small loss on valuation, was a profit on the original cost.
Panther Securities also sold a freehold vacant factory at Stonehold for GBP275,000, as well as two freehold factories on its Wembley estate for GBP3.5 million. Panther Securities said the price for the Wembley sales was "considerably above last year's valuation and approximates to what we paid for the whole of our Wembley estate some years ago".
Panther Securities said it was paying a dividend of 22.00 pence per share for the year, up from 12.00 pence a year earlier, although this included the 10.00p special dividend the company announced in January.
"There are some uncertainties going forward which may affect property prices, but many of our properties are based outside London, and the values outside are still catching up. As such, we still anticipate the market being stable or growing for our properties and that we have time to create or realise value, especially on our sites that are suitable for residential redevelopment," Panther Securities said.
Shares in Panther Securities were untraded on Wednesday, having last traded at 372.00 pence.
By Hannah Boland; [email protected]; @Hannaheboland
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