The operating model of St Modwen (SMP) touches house-building, commercial development and buy-and-hold property investment - nearly all of which are currently delivering impressive growth. This helped boost net asset value (NAV) by 11 per cent in the year to November.
The biggest boost to profits came from the disposal of a 50 per cent stake in the Elephant & Castle shopping centre. The site was acquired for £29m in 2002 and was sold for £80m, half of which came to St Modwen. As for the remaining portfolio, rising asset values pushed the loan-to-value ratio down from 41 per cent to 33 per cent, despite a rise in balance-sheet debt from £318m to £341m.
But it is the pipeline that holds the greatest promise. Heading the list is a joint venture on the 57-acre New Covent Garden Market site. The current market will be squeezed onto a 37-acre site, and the remaining 20 acres will provide 2,900 homes and 115,000 sq ft of commercial space. Planning consent is not expected until 2015, but chief executive Bill Oliver believes the scheme could have a sold-out value of around £3bn.
Analysts at Numis are forecasting adjusted NAV of 318p this coming November (from 298p in 2013), rising to 401p in 2015.
| ST MODWEN PROPERTIES (SMP) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 386p | MARKET VALUE: | £851m | |
| TOUCH: | 386-387p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 404p | LOW: 240p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 1.0% | TRADING STOCK: | £206m | |
| PREMIUM TO NAV: | 38% | |||
| INVEST PROPERTIES: | £813m | NET DEBT: | 54% | |
| Year to 30 Nov | Net asset value (p) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | 200 | -119 | -59.7 | nil |
| 2010 | 218 | 37.5 | 18.6 | 3.0 |
| 2011 | 232 | 50.4 | 21.7 | 3.3 |
| 2012 | 251 | 47.4 | 21.3 | 3.6 |
| 2013 | 279 | 80.5 | 33.5 | 4.0 |
| % change | +11 | +70 | +57 | +11 |
Ex-div: 5 Mar Payment: 4 Apr | ||||
