"This is early cycle for us," says Urban&Civic (UANC) executive chairman Nigel Hugill in the company's second set of results since it reversed into Aim-traded peer Terrace Hill to become a public company. The property developer has spent the last six months investing much of the £170m raised last year. Its portfolio now includes interests in 25,000 residential plots in areas where disposable incomes and populations are recovering.
Investments in the period totalled £105m, including two prime sites in Manchester worth £23.8m, and an agreement with Hopkins Homes to develop 5,000 residential plots in Cambridgeshire. In February the company also bought Catesby Property for £34m. The deal should boost earnings this financial year and adds a stake in 2,600 homes set for development in Nottinghamshire. Excluding the value of associated commercial development land, the price tag equates to about £8,300 per un-serviced plot, which U&C believes leaves scope for significant gains.
The strong pipeline may be tempered by politics, however. U&C believes the recent Conservative election win could lead to a drop in its planning application success rate, following a trend that has emerged in the last six months.
Analysts at Stifel are forecasting adjusted book value of 280p for the September year-end, compared with 250p last September.
URBAN&CIVIC (UANC) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 252p | MARKET VALUE: | £363m | |
| TOUCH: | 252-254p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 278p | LOW: 217p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 1% | TRADING PROPERTIES: | £144.3m | |
| PREMIUM TO NAV: | 4.% | NET CASH: | £96.4m | |
| INVESTMENT PROPERTIES: | £108.1m | |||
| Half-year to 31 Mar | Net asset value (p) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014* | 225 | 30.0 | 330.1 | nil |
| 2015 | 242 | 5.8 | 4.1 | 1.0 |
| % change | +7 | - | - | - |
Ex-div: 4 Jun Payment: 26 Jun *Adjusted for May 2014's one-for-10 share consolidation | ||||
