Central London real estate investment trust Great Portland's decent NAV hike reflects both rental growth and rising capital values. Indeed, rental values have grown 5.1 per cent since the start of the financial year, reflecting a looming office stock shortage, as well as the West End's retail boom as foreign tourists cash in on the cheap pound.
This leaves Portland's £320m of acquisitions since the bottom of the cycle looking shrewd - these assets have risen nearly 18 per cent in value over the last eight months alone. That has enabled a £350m refinancing, announced in tandem with these results. The development pipeline will drive future growth, too. Its four London schemes under construction will be joined by seven more in 2011, potentially including 100 Bishopsgate - a major City office development in partnership with Brookfield. This week, the company also bought £45m worth of West End assets from its Great Capital Partnership joint venture with Capital & Counties.
Nomura expects adjusted NAV to rise from 2010's 283p to 310p in 2011, and then to 335p in 2012.
| GREAT PORTLAND ESTATES (GPOR) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 346p | MARKET VALUE: | £ 1,082m | |
| TOUCH: | 345-347p | 12M HIGH: | 369p | LOW: 262p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 2.3% | TRADING STOCK: | NIL | |
| PREMIUM TO NAV: | 11% | |||
| INVEST PROPERTIES: | £869m | NET DEBT: | 29% | |
| Half year to 30 September | Net asset value (p) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | 223 | -29.8 | -30.0 | 3.00 |
| 2010 | 311 | 117 | 116 | 3.10 |
| % change | +39 | - | - | +3 |
Ex-div:17 Nov Payment:05 Jan | ||||
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