Forget about the headline numbers, because this is probably the last set of full-year figures from Rugby Estates as the property company is selling off all its assets and returning the money to its shareholders. It has rewarded shareholders to date, as anyone holding 100 shares worth £213 in January 2009 when the process started has received £270 back in cash and, following various share consolidations, now holds 14 new shares worth an additional £60.
In the 12 months to end January, Rugby managed to offload four properties for £4.8m and a further £2m of cash was raised from selling off co-investments even though disposing property assets is proving difficult in the current climate. Add this to £4.7m of property sales since the year-end and the company is currently sitting on net cash of £7.7m. So Rugby's board is proposing to return £6.4m, or 250p a share, at the end of June. Shareholders have the option of receiving this through the issue of 'B' and/or 'C' shares dependent on whether they want the payment treated as capital or income for tax purposes.
Valuing what's left is no longer calculated using triple net assets per share, as this takes no account of costs such as asset disposal fees. Even so, after the above pay-out, there is still an estimated 190-230p a share still to come based on property worth £8.1m, but before deducting costs. The plan is to complete the whole process by the end of this year.
| RUGBY ESTATES (RES) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 432p | MARKET VALUE: | £11m | |
| TOUCH: | 430-435p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 485p | LOW: 405p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | nil | TRADING STOCK: | nil | |
| DISCOUNT TO NAV: | 28% | |||
| INVEST PROPERTIES: | £11.4m | NET CASH*: | £4.6m | |
| Year to 31 Jan | Net asset value (p) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011** | 688 | 2.44 | 97 | nil |
| 2012 | 599 | -3.17 | -125 | see text |
| % change | -13 | - | - | - |
*Net cash £7.7m at 16 May 2012 **Net asset value adjusted for capital return and share consolidation in August 2011. Adjustment factor of 1.0498 | ||||
