Industrial estate landlord Hansteen (HSTN) has enjoyed a jubilant week. Fresh from announcing a transformative deal to manage the £460m Ashtenne Industrial Fund - which it set up in 2001, but subsequently sold – joint chief executives Morgan Jones and Ian Watson have released what they describe as the group's "best ever" profit numbers.
Thanks to acquisitions over the winter, first-half rental income of £39.8m was 22 per cent higher than in the same period of 2012. Combined with £3.2m of profit on the sale of properties this spring, that pushed adjusted profit up 29 per cent to £22m - higher than analysts had been expecting.
All this activity offset a flat market environment. The rent-roll increased by just 1.1 per cent on a like-for-like basis as higher rents offset a slight dip in occupancy. Yet Mr Jones and Mr Watson are optimistic that the climate is now improving, with solid trading in both the UK and Germany. "It's not booming, but people are taking space," says Mr Watson. Industrial estates are also now attracting the attention of property investors, which the managers reckon will lead to valuation gains from next year.
Broker Peel Hunt expects adjusted full-year EPS of 5.3p, and adjusted NAV of 88p (from 4.4p and 83p in 2012).
HANSTEEN (HSTN) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 99p | MARKET VALUE: | £632m | |
| TOUCH: | 99.1-99.5p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 99p | LOW: 72p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 4.6% | TRADING PROPERTIES: | £14.1m | |
| PREMIUM TO NAV: | 19% | |||
| INVESTMENT PROPERTIES: | £859m | NET DEBT: | 69% | |
| Half-year to 30 Jun | Net asset value (p) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 79.0 | 23.7 | 3.20 | 1.80 |
| 2013 | 83.0 | 14.9 | 1.80 | 1.90 |
| % change | +5 | -37 | -44 | +6 |
Ex-div: 23 Oct Payment: 21 Nov | ||||
