Property group London & Stamford reckons that it could have as much as £1bn to spend, which would enable it to look at much bigger property investments that it has done so far. The cash pile assumes a gearing level of 60 per cent, lending for which is not yet in place.
After the half-year end management succeeded in securing another £100m of equity funding from its Middle East joint-venture partner, Green Park Investments, which has now committed £300m, of which £180m remains undrawn, and the implication is that more funding could be available through the same channel. The group also made a net profit of £40.5m on the sale of the Racecourse Retail Park at Aintree. Profits were additionally boosted by a £13.7m revaluation on investment properties.
Three major acquisitions were made in the first half with a gross value of £413m, which, together with a further £205m of investments after the period end, takes total assets under management to over £1bn. The new investments include two portfolios of prime distribution warehouses, both generating returns in excess of 7 per cent.
KBC Peel Hunt expects net operating income of £47.3m for the full year, rising to £84.7m in 2012, and a year-end net asset value (NAV) of 120p, rising to 130p in March 2012 (from £16.1m and 119.9p in 2010).
| LONDON & STAMFORD (LSP) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 119p | MARKET VALUE: | £649m | |
| TOUCH: | 119-120p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 126p | LOW: 110p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 4.4% | TRADING STOCK: | £30.3m | |
| DISCOUNT TO NAV: | 2% | |||
| INVESTMENT PROPERTIES: | £497m* | NET DEBT: | 15% | |
| Half-year to 1 Oct | Net asset value (p) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | 104 | 15.4 | 4.5 | 2.2 |
| 2010 | 121 | 23.2 | 3.3 | 3.0 |
| % change | +16 | +51 | -27 | +36 |
Ex-div: 1 Dec Payment: 20 Dec *Excludes £103m investment in associates | ||||
