Aim-listed fund manager First Property specialises in the Polish market, so worries about the European banking system have hit its shares hard over the past year. Yet a strong set of full-year results suggests that it's weathering the storm pretty well – leaving its shares looking undervalued.
Profits rose 12 per cent in the core asset-management division, as the company benefited from a full year of fees on two funds it launched in 2010. The larger of the two, UK PPP, is now almost fully invested in discount UK retail parks; chief executive Ben Habib now wants to launch a second portfolio focused on these higher-yielding UK assets. The other recent launch, Fprop Opportunities (FOP), is focused on the Polish market, but has only completed two investments to date. Mr Habib had been wary of buying assets while the future of the European project remains so unclear, but says that he's now more hopeful of a positive resolution.
The company also owns properties on its own balance sheet. Pre-tax profits from these more than doubled to £2.5m, before overheads, mainly thanks to its share of income from the two new assets within FOP.
FIRST PROPERTY GROUP (FPO) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 17p | MARKET VALUE: | £19m | |
| TOUCH: | 16.5-17.3p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 25p | 16p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 6.4% | PE RATIO: | 6 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 16p | NET DEBT: | 86% | |
| Year to 31 Mar | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 15.6 | 6.29 | 6.04 | 0.80 |
| 2009 | 11.2 | 3.86 | 2.81 | 1.00 |
| 2010 | 6.4 | 2.61 | 2.00 | 1.03 |
| 2011 | 7.1 | 2.95 | 2.02 | 1.06 |
| 2012 | 9.3 | 3.97 | 2.88 | 1.08 |
| % change | +31 | +35 | +43 | +2 |
Ex-div: 22 Aug Payment: 21 Sep | ||||
