23rd Jun 2015 08:51
LONDON (Alliance News) - Sutton Harbour Holdings PLC on Tuesday said its pretax profit increased in its 2015 financial year on the back of lettings secured over the course of the year, a boost in its occupancy rate and more revenue from the car parks at its main site.
The AIM-listed marine and waterfront regeneration specialist's main asset is the Sutton Harbour area in Plymouth. It has embarked on a regeneration of the multi-use site, and is now using its plans for that revamp, as well as the improvements already made, to bring in new and better-quality tenants, whilst embarking on a drive to also attract tourists with a new range of restaurants, as well as the views and attractions at the site.
Sutton Harbour said its pretax profit for the year to the end of March was GBP861,000, up from GBP265,000 a year earlier. Revenue was broadly flat at GBP7 million for the year, but the profit was nudged higher by lower administrative expenses and the lack of a repeat of the GBP354,000 one-off loss booked in 2014 on onerous leases. Like-for-like revenue for the year, excluding regeneration, was up to GBP7 million from GBP6.6 million.
The company said it secured further commercial property lettings around Sutton Harbour in the year, increasing the occupancy rate to 93.3% at the year-end from 86.4% a year earlier. The group also saw record landings at Plymouth Fisheries in the year, with a catch value of GBP19.4 million, compared to GBP17.3 million a year earlier.
It also got a boost from operational changes made at the car parks at the site, which pushed revenue from his channel up by 13% year-on-year.
Sutton Harbour said it is not recommending a dividend for the year but said it was "mindful of the importance" of this to many investors. It said any dividend in the future will be dependent on the company reducing its debt levels and exposure to financing charges.
"I am pleased to report a year of strong performance by the group's trading businesses with record revenues achieved by Plymouth Fisheries and the Sutton Harbour Car Parks," said Chairman Graham Miller.
"These encouraging results demonstrate that specific strategies to grow revenues have been effective, helped by generally improving trading conditions. Increased occupancy of the group's facilities and investment portfolio continues to underpin the value of the asset base of the company, which shows pleasing growth," he added.
Shares in Sutton Harbour were up 3.9% to 30.65 pence on Tuesday.
By Sam Unsted; [email protected]; @SamUAtAlliance
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