Profits spiral for Helical Bar

The first was an office at 200 Aldersgate, which had been vacant since law firm Clifford Chance relocated to Canary Wharf in 2005. Helical was appointed as development manager by a German bank in 2010, refurbished it, found tenants and ultimately sold it to a specialist asset manager. The other deal was a joint venture with Aviva that involved getting planning for a mixed-use development at White City. In September the site was sold to Imperial College.

Mike Slade, Helical’s veteran chief executive, said the deals exemplified the "Helical model" of making big profits with other people’s money; the company stumped up just £1.5m of capital for Aldersgate and White City. He will now try to repeat this success in various other London projects: mixed-use developments in Smithfield and Hammersmith, City offices at Old Street and Mitre Square. All are in joint ventures, except Mitre Square, where Helical is courting partners. Mr Slade says the West End is “too hot” but is very bullish on the City and its fringes, where “the rental cycle is only just getting going.”

Broker Peel Hunt expects full-year adjusted NAV, which includes developments at estimated market value rather than at cost, to reach 300p - from 282p at end-September.