Small business landlord Workspace has confidently increased its interim dividend by 10 per cent thanks to increased occupancy and rental income on its London property portfolio.
Rental income rose 4.1 per cent to £22.9m year-on-year, and the value of Workspace's portfolio crept up 2 per cent, nudging net asset value (NAV) up to 28p a share from 27p in March. Like-for-like occupancy has risen to 85.6 per cent; not far off the 90 per cent figure that has triggered meaningful rental uplifts in the past.
Workspace currently has property disposals of £18m under offer, and subject to residential planning applications going through, these will be achieved at a 29 per cent surplus to September's book values. These are estates where planning uses are being converted to residential and student accommodation, showing the latent value of Workspace's portfolio. "There will be more sales in the next six months, and I would hope we will continue to see an improvement in occupational and rental growth," says chief executive Harry Platt. "London's population continues to grow, house building rates are low, and there's a squeeze on residential rents. This is all good news, but we don't have to sell too early in the cycle."
Broker Execution Noble has marginally upgraded its March 2011 NAV forecast to 29.8p.
| WORKSPACE (WKP) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 24.5p | MARKET VALUE: | £ 282m | |
| TOUCH: | 24-24.5p | 12M HIGH: | 25.5p | LOW: 19p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 3.2% | TRADING STOCK: | NIL | |
| DISCOUNT TO NAV: | 12.5% | |||
| INVEST PROPERTIES: | £728m | NET DEBT: | 139% | |
| Half year to 30 Sep | Net asset value (p) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | 22.0 | -39.3 | -3.70 | 0.250 |
| 2010 | 28.0 | 18.0 | 1.60 | 0.275 |
| % change | +27 | - | - | +10 |
Ex-div:12 Jan Payment:09 Feb | ||||
