Growing interest in regional property helped lift profits at Town Centre Securities (TCSC). The Leeds-based retail and car park landlord saw its investment portfolio rise 4.7 per cent in value on a like-for-like basis (ignoring capital expenditure) to £314m.
Rental income from investment properties was a touch lower, at £7.9m, but this was after property disposals of £17.3m, including the sale of Park Row Leeds, completed in July. However, car park income grew by 20 per cent to £3m, assisted by the acquisition of the Clements Road site in Ilford.
The Merrion Centre in Leeds remains Town Centre's key asset, and a total of £5.6m was spent on refurbishment. This pushed up the estimated rental value of the building by £800,000 and produced a valuation gain of over £8m - a very healthy return on investment. Further developments in the pipeline include 91 residential units at Piccadilly Basin in Manchester, for which planning consent has already been obtained. The company is also expecting consent for a 70,000 sq ft office at its Whitehall Riverside site.
Net borrowing was little changed at £159m, but the valuation uplift brought the loan-to-value ratio down from 50 per cent last June to 47 per cent.
Analysts at Oriel Securities are forecasting adjusted net assets per share of 342p by the end of June (from 308p in 2014).
| TOWN CENTRE SECURITIES (TCSC) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 285p | MARKET VALUE: | £152m | |
| TOUCH: | 285-288p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 291p | LOW: 225p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 3.7% | DEVELOPMENT PROP: | £22.8m | |
| DISCOUNT TO NAV: | 13% | |||
| INVESTMENT PROP: | £314m | NET DEBT: | 92% | |
| Half-year to 31 Dec | Net asset value (p) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 283 | 12.3 | 23.2 | 3.1 |
| 2014 | 326 | 13.3 | 25.0 | 3.1 |
| % change | +15 | +8 | +8 | - |
Ex-div: 28 May Payment: 26 Jun | ||||
