Conygar's share price performance over the past year has been dire. But, judging by these half-year results, the Aim-listed vulture fund is in surprisingly good shape.
The highlight of the half was the acquisition in December of a high-yielding portfolio of properties out of bankruptcy for £39.8m. Chief executive Robert Ware and his team immediately set about extending leases and, by the year-end, the portfolio was worth £41.8m – as estimated by the surveyors. That offset slight declines on other assets so that the company posted an overall valuation gain of £1.5m for the six months, contributing to a 1.9 per cent increase in net asset value (NAV).
Conygar owns a number of development projects in Wales, as well as a high-yielding investment portfolio. Mr Ware hopes to build marina-side flats for the West Midlands and Manchester yachterati, who like sailing up and down the Welsh coast. One recent landmark was planning permission for a mixed-use marina development in Fishguard. But Mr Ware maintains his broadly negative stance on the wider property market: "There's very little activity outside of London".
Broker Oriel Securities expects year-end NAV of 161p (154p in 2011).
CONYGAR INVESTMENT COMPANY (CIC) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 88p | MARKET VALUE: | £88m | |
| TOUCH: | 87-90p | 12-MONTH HIGH : | 119p | LOW: 84p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 1.3% | TRADING PROP: | £21.6m | |
| DISCOUNT TO NAV: | 44% | |||
| INVESTMENT PROP: | £178m | NET DEBT: | 30% | |
| Half-year to 31 Mar | Net asset value (p) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 154 | 3.38 | 1.96 | nil |
| 2012 | 158 | 5.11 | 3.53 | nil |
| % change | +3 | +51 | +80 | - |
Ex-div: - Payment: - | ||||
