Brownfield site developer Harworth (HWG) raised £27.1m in March and is expected to have spent it by the end of the year, having already used £16.3m on three acquisitions. These are adjacent to sites in its core portfolio, which comprises around 21,000 acres of land formerly used for coal mining.
Progress in the first half of the year to redevelop this land helped to lift adjusted net asset value per share by 11 per cent year on year to 120.1p at the end of June, while a deferred tax credit accounted for the large hike in earnings per share.
Development activity remains concentrated on beds and sheds, reflecting the strong demand for new homes and commercial space. Outline planning consent was secured for 1.49m sq ft of commercial space, primarily at Kellingley in North Yorkshire. Further applications for 910 residential freehold plots, 855 partnership plots and 1.81m sq ft of commercial space should be decided in the second half.
Harworth is also aiming to build its recurring revenue stream to cover overheads and strategic land promotion, and in the first half it sold 358 residential plots to regional housebuilders, and there are a further 9,171 residential plots with planning consent in the portfolio.
Analysts at Investec forecast adjusted net asset value per share at the end of December of 131.4p, from 119.8p a year earlier.
| HARWORTH (HWG) | ||||
| ORD PRICE: | 101p | MARKET VALUE: | £325m | |
| TOUCH: | 100-102p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 107p | LOW: 81p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 0.8% | TRADING PROP: | £10.8m | |
| DISCOUNT TO NAV: | 14% | |||
| INVESTMENT PROP: | £322m | NET DEBT: | 3% | |
| Half-year to 30 Jun | Net asset value (p) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
| 2016 | 104 | 7.4 | 0.3 | 0.23 |
| 2017 | 117 | 7.7 | 5.4 | 0.253 |
| % change | +13 | +5 | +1700 | +10 |
| Ex-div: | 14 Sep | |||
| Payment: | 13 Oct |
