The shock waves from the EU referendum don't appear to have affected the industrial property sector in the Midlands, which is good news for A&J Mucklow (MKLW), where the predominant influence remains steady demand at a time of diminishing supply of modern space.
Headline profits were down as a result of a lower revaluation gain on the portfolio of £10.2m against £42.3m a year earlier, but gross rental and service charge income rose by 5.3 per cent to £23.8m, and underlying pre-tax profits grew by 7.9 per cent to £15m. Rental growth from new lettings and lease renewals averaged around 10 per cent; that’s 5 per cent higher than the estimated rental value set in the previous year.
Mucklow has also entered into an option with two councils to promote and develop a 15-acre site, which will accommodate up to 275,000 sq ft of manufacturing space, and discussions are already under way for the first proposed pre-let building of 43,000 sq ft.
Analysts at Arden Partners are forecasting adjusted net asset value (NAV) per share of 441p at June 2017 (from 438p in 2016).
| A&J MUCKLOW (MKLW) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 454p | MARKET VALUE: | £287m | |
| TOUCH: | 454-456p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 530p | LOW: 380p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 4.7% | DEVELOPMENT PROPERTIES: | £8.1m** | |
| PREMIUM TO NAV: | 2% | |||
| INVESTMENT PROP: | £355m | NET DEBT: | 25% | |
| Year to 30 Jun | Net asset value (p) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 295 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 19.1 |
| 2013 | 303 | 16.3 | 27.2 | 19.64 |
| 2014 | 356 | 40.7 | 66.5 | 20.23 |
| 2015 | 424 | 56.2 | 89 | 20.84 |
| 2016 | 443 | 25.2 | 39.9 | 21.47* |
| % change | +4 | -55 | -55 | +3 |
Ex-div: 15 Sep Payment: 17 Oct *Dividends to now be paid quarterly, 5p on 17 Oct and 6.88p on 16 Jan. The interim dividend for the current year will be split and paid in April and July 2017 **Excludes trading properties of £500,000 | ||||
