A steady increase in regional property values helped West Midlands-based Real Estate Investors (RLE) to deliver a strong increase in first-half profits. The group did suffer a £68,000 hit from revaluing interest rate swaps, but this was more than offset by a £2.4m property revaluation surplus. Crucially, rental income rose nearly 4 per cent to £2.7m.
Gross property assets grew 15 per cent to £86m and, since the half-year ended, further property and land worth £7.7m has been acquired. Indeed, chief executive Paul Bassi reckons that assets will soon exceed £100m. The group now owns nearly 696,000 square feet of space, a rise of 7 per cent in the period. While rising capital values helped reduce the loan-to-value ratio from 58.6 per cent in December to 48.8 per cent.
The fall in the dividend payment isn't what it seems, either. A 1p per share half-year dividend was paid last year, but no final dividend. This year, as well as the 0.75p half-year payout, the company also expects to pay a final dividend of 0.75p, which will represent a 50 per cent increase on the total payout from last year.
Broker Liberum expects adjusted net asset value of 63p for the full-year.
REAL ESTATE INVESTORS (RLE) | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
ORD PRICE: | 54p | MARKET VALUE: | £60m | |
TOUCH: | 52-55p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 55p | LOW: 43p |
DIVIDEND YIELD: | 1.4% | TRADING STOCK: | nil | |
DISCOUNT TO NAV: | 5% | |||
INVESTMENT PROP: | £79m | NET DEBT: | 37% |
Half-year to 30 Jun | Net asset value (p) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
---|---|---|---|---|
2013 | 55.4 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 1 |
2014 | 57.0 | 2.6 | 2.4 | 0.75 |
% change | +3 | +225 | +200 | -25 |
Ex-div: 24 Sep Payment: 24 Oct |