"Rental growth is a completely alien being in our regional markets," according to Town Centre Securities' (TCSC) chairman and chief executive Edward Ziff. But profits in the year to-end June received a substantial boost from a £19.8m revaluation gain, compared to negative valuation move last year. This also helped to deliver a decent gain in net assets on the group’s portfolio of retail outlets and car parks, based principally in Leeds, Manchester and Scotland.
The jewel in the crown remains the Merrion Centre in Leeds. A total of £9.4m was spent on refurbishment and investment in new units, with three quarters of rental income now secured on unexpired leases averaging 13.6 years.
The group has £65m of investment property in Glasgow and Edinburgh, too, comprising mainly high quality tenants - such as a Waitrose site in Glasgow - and well let. However, disposals equivalent to around 20 per cent of the Scottish portfolio were made during the year, although Mr Ziff stressed that these properties would have been sold irrespective of the Scottish referendum. There will, however, be a fall in rental income until the proceeds are reinvested.
Prior to these figures, broker Oriel Securities was expecting net assets per share of 305p for 2015, but a significant upgrade looks likely.
| TOWN CENTRE SECURITIES (TCSC) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 242p | MARKET VALUE: | £129m | |
| TOUCH: | 243-250p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 279p | LOW: 204p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 4.3% | DEVELOPMENT PROPERTIES: | £22m | |
| DISCOUNT TO NAV: | 21% | |||
| INVESTMENT PROP: | £319m† | NET DEBT: | 98% | |
| Year to 30 Jun | Net asset value (p) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 269 | 39.3 | 74.6 | 10.36 |
| 2011 | 288 | 15.4 | 28.8 | 10.44 |
| 2012 | 270 | -4.1 | -7.9 | 10.44 |
| 2013 | 267 | 3.6 | 6.7 | 10.44 |
| 2014 | 308 | 27.4 | 51.6 | 10.44 |
| % change | +15 | +661 | +670 | - |
Ex-div:04 Dec Payment:05 Jan †Includes joint ventures | ||||
