11th Jul 2019 09:09
(Alliance News) - Office space provider Workspace Group Ltd said Thursday that its average number of enquiries and lettings per month rose year-on-year in the first quarter of 2019, due to a "good level" of customer demand.
For the period ended June 30, Workspace said that average enquiries had risen 3.8% year-on-year to 1,060 from 1,021 with average monthly lettings jumping to 130 from the 88 in the same quarter in 2018.
Interim Chief Executive Graham Clemett said: "It has been a busy and successful quarter for the company. Our distinctive flexible offer continues to attract strong demand from a broad range of customers, despite the challenging economic environment."
"Our completed projects are letting up well and we are progressing at pace with the delivery of our project pipeline. Alongside this we remain well positioned to take advantage of acquisition opportunities but remain rigorous on our return criteria," Clemett added.
Workspace's net debt fell by GBP6.0 million to GBP574.0 million in the quarter and as of June 30, the company had cash balances and undrawn facilities of GBP134 million.
The company ended financial 2019 with pretax profit of GBP137.3 million, a 17% year-on-year decline, but trading profits, which largely come from the company's rental income, rose 19% to GBP72.4 million.
So far in financial 2020, the company completed refurbishment of the 19,000 squared feet Lightbox complex in Chiswick, London, and it expects to develop another three projects which would provide an additional of 104,000 squared feet of space.
The Brickfields project in Hackney, London, which contains 98 lettable offices and studios and the Ink Rooms development, in Clerkenwell, which comprises of 37 offices and studios, were both completed in June.
The company also said its search for a permanent successor to former Chief Executive Officer Jamie Hopkins, who departed in May, is "progressing well".
Shares in Workspace were up 1.3% at 889.05 pence each in London on Thursday morning.
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