3rd May 2005 07:00
Wichford plc3 May 2005 3 May 2005 WICHFORD PLC Reading property sold for £17 million Wichford plc ("Wichford" or the "Company"), a property investment company, todayannounces the disposal of King's House, Reading to Mapeley for £17,224,000. Thesale reflects a net initial yield of 7.00%. Wichford acquired King's House from Nomura in October 2003 for £14,650,000 andit was independently valued at £15,500,000 at the time of Wichford's IPO lastAugust. Since then Wichford has achieved an increase in rent of £130,000 perannum to £1,275,000 per annum. Michael Sheehan, Chairman of Wichford commented today: "The sale of King's House in Reading is a landmark in the company's delivery onits strategy and follows last year's successful rise in the rental income. Theincrease in the capital value of the property following the rent review isreflected in the sale price." Enquiries Citigate Dewe Rogerson Tel: 020 7638 9571 Patrick Toyne-Sewell George Cazenove Notes to Editors Wichford plc listed on AIM in August 2004. Assuming completion of the abovedisposal, the company will have properties under management with a gross assetvalue of around £210 million generating a rental income of around £13.5 millionper annum. The company maintains a portfolio of properties across the UK withunit values usually between £3 million and £15 million. The properties areoccupied by UK Central Government bodies and all are outside Central London.Wichford is seeking to benefit from the Government's commitment to act upon therecommendations of the Lyons Review (March 2004) that about 20,000 public sectorjobs should be relocated outside London and the South-East of England over thenext seven years. The Company's current portfolio has a weighted averageunexpired lease term in excess of 10 years. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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