Mountview Estates' (MTVW) disclosure is so poor - and its management so press-shy - that understanding the business forces behind the residential landlord's half-year results is a matter of guesswork. Nearly half of its portfolio is in London and most of the rest just outside, so by rights the company ought to be flying. But with no revaluations and no indication of sales volumes, shareholders can but assume.
Turnover was 11.2 per cent higher than last year, at £28.8m. That could either be because Mountview sold more homes as the protected tenants died or left, or because the homes it sold were worth more. All we know is that the homes it did sell originally cost £12.9m, up from £10.5m last year, so growth in gross profits was limited to 3 per cent. But thanks to much lower finance costs pre-tax profits rose 11 per cent to £13.2m.
Net assets rose 7 per cent to 6,410p a share as a result of these profits - but this substantially understates the company's true value. The £26.4m investment portfolio is only revalued annually, and the £328m trading portfolio, which mainly consists of properties let on regulated pre-1989 tenancies, is held at cost.
