19th Nov 2025 09:47
(Alliance News) - Workspace Group PLC on Wednesday reported a swing to loss from a profit, driven by a significant fall in the fair value of its investment properties.
The London-based real estate investment trust said pretax loss was GBP71.1 million for the six months to September 30, swinging from a profit of GBP10.2 million.
This was driven by a widened loss in the fair value of investment properties, which multiplied to GBP95.3 million from GBP20.0 million a year ago.
Shares in Workspace fell 6.0% to 378.50 pence on Wednesday morning in London.
Following a property portfolio valuation by CBRE Group Inc and Knight Frank LLP, Workspace's valuation saw an underlying decrease of 4.0% in the half-year to GBPP2.28 billion from GBP2.37 billion. This represented a 6.1% drop from GBP2.42 billion that same period a year ago.
Like-for-like rent roll fell 2.3% to GBP107.1 million from GBP109.6 million, with a fall in occupancy to 80% from 84%. The lower occupancy also contributed to the decrease in valuation of like-for-like properties, Workspace said.
Revenue fell 2.5% to GBP90.1 million from GBP92.4 million, as net rental income decreased 3.0% to GBP58.7 million from GBP60.5 million. The company attributed the fall in net rental income to the disposals made over the last year.
Other expenses and finance costs more than tripled to GBP4.5 million from GBP1.1 million, further dampening the bottom line.
Workspace declared an interim dividend of 9.4 pence a share, flat year-on-year.
Looking ahead, Workspace anticipated that a lower opening rent roll and higher interest costs will dampen profit, but it will be "partly offset by the impact of cost efficiencies implemented in the first half of the year."
"The softer economy and ongoing macroeconomic uncertainty is creating a tough operating environment which will continue to impact our business," the company added.
Chief Executive Lawrence Hutchings said: "Following the launch of our Fix, Accelerate and Scale strategy in June, we have made steady operational progress through the first half of the year in what remains a challenging market. As expected, occupancy was lower in the first half, but we are seeing encouraging signs that the actions we are taking are positively impacting customer retention and conversion.
"Our priority is to stabilise and rebuild occupancy. This is the foundation of our plan - to drive growth in income and mitigate the costs of vacant space, whilst recycling capital from low-conviction buildings
By Roya Shahidi, Alliance News reporter
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