26th Apr 2018 12:46
LONDON (Alliance News) - Propoerty developer U & I Group PLC said Thursday it has had a "record year of profits and progress" for the year ended February 28.
U & I posted GBP68.3 million of development and trading gains, which is nearly double its previous year total of GBP35.0 million. The 2018 figure was at the "top end" of its guidance, it said.
The company had a 12% post tax total return, driven by an increase in its net asset value per share to 303 pence per share, up from 278p per share in 2017.
U & I more than doubled its total dividend to 17.9p per share from 8.7p per share last year. Its interim dividend, 2.4p per share, and its final dividend, 3.5p per share, remained the same but it also declared a supplemental dividend of 12p per share, up from 2.8p per share the previous year.
The specialist property regeneration firm significantly widened its pretax profit to GBP48.2 million from GBP400,000 the year before.
U & I has said its "clear and focused" strategy is aligned with "political and social trends" in regions with "strong" growth potential - London, Manchester and Dublin. It says it will continue to target a 12% post tax total return per annum, including GBP125 million to GBP 130 million of development and trading gains to the end of the financial year 2021 through its existing pipeline.
The company said it has a GBP7.00 billion gross development value pipeline and visibility on delivery for the next ten years.
U & I also said it intends to change its year end from February 28 to March 31.
"These results are an endorsement of the ambition that we set ourselves when we established U+I: to create a strong business with a clear focus on regeneration and a commitment to delivering sustainable value for shareholders and the communities in which we operate," Chief Executive Matthew Weiner said.
He added: "Stepping back to look at our market, our strategy is such that we will continue to benefit from the long-term socio-political trends driving the need for mixed-use regeneration. The longstanding relationships we have nurtured have made us a public sector partner of choice, often giving us unique access to major public private partnership opportunities. We are currently shortlisted for two major projects with a gross development value of more than GBP1.5 billion and expect the number of opportunities to increase as both the public and private sectors face pressures to release value from their real estate assets."
In a separate announcement Thursday, U & I said it has completed the sale of its GBP58.0 million holding at Charlton Riverside in Greenwich, London to a housing association.
It acquired the property in 2015 for about GBP27.0 million.
Shares in U & I were up 4.6% to 211.83 pence each Thursday.
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