Property company Quintain's (QED) full-year figures revealed that fairly rapid progress is being made on the group's turnaround strategy. Indeed, net debt fell 17 per cent to £444m - management wants that below £400m by end-March 2014 - while the introduction of Hong-Kong-based investor Knight Dragon looks set to give the group's Greenwich Peninsula project new impetus.
Indeed, Knight Dragon invested its first £170m last year and ground was broken for the first 500 homes at the Greenwich project. Moreover, the 350,000 square foot London Designer Outlet in Wembley is nearing completion and 62 per cent of units are already let, with a further 11 per cent in late-stage negotiations. Meanwhile, the solidity of the student letting market in the capital, along with the acquisition of Grafton Advisers, boosted underlying income from the asset management division by 15 per cent to £21.8m. And asset disposals are helping to drive significant debt reductions. In fact, disposals realised a net £177.3m in the year, of which £130m was received in cash.
Adjusted net asset value (NAV) per share did slip 9 per cent in the year to 105p - reflecting a downward revaluation of secondary assets. Barclays Capital expects that to slip further in 2014, to 102p, before rising to 106p in 2015.
QUINTAIN ESTATES AND DEVELOPMENT (QED) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 75.8p | MARKET VALUE: | £395m | |
| TOUCH: | 74.8-75.8p | 12-MONTHG HIGH | 80p | LOW: 33p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | nil | TRADING PROPERTIES: | £10.2m | |
| DISCOUNT TO NAV: | 27% | |||
| INVESTMENT PROPERTIES: | £563m | NET DEBT: | 82% | |
| Year to 31 Mar | Net asset value (p) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | 121 | -129 | -39.1 | nil |
| 2010 | 120 | -10.1 | -3.30 | nil |
| 2011 | 116 | -48.1 | -6.70 | nil |
| 2012 | 110 | -43.5 | -6.80 | nil |
| 2013 | 104 | -50.4 | -7.90 | nil |
| % change | -5 | - | - | - |
Ex-div: - Payment: - | ||||
