Workspace (WKP), the real estate investment trust that provides office space for new and growing companies in and around London, showed no sign of Brexit jitters, and pushed net rental income up by 21 per cent in the six months to September 2017.
Headline profits jumped sharply, reflecting a £71.2m upward valuation in the portfolio compared with a £14.6m devaluation a year earlier, and this helped to boost adjusted net asset value by 6.4 per cent to 1,014p a share. And shareholders were rewarded with a 30 per cent hike in the dividend.
Despite all the uncertainty generated by Brexit, customer enquiries remained strong at 1,047 a month, enabling a 2.7 per cent rise in rent per square foot to £33.56, while occupancy rose from 90.3 per cent to 92.4 per cent.
Capital recycling saw two industrial estates sold for £80m, for a £23m profit on book value, while sites were acquired in Finsbury Circus and Fitzrovia for a total of £257m. However, with growing valuations, the loan-to-value ratio remained modest at 20 per cent, albeit up from 13 per cent a year earlier.
Analysts at Peel Hunt are forecasting adjusted net asset value at the March 2018 year-end of 1,018p a share, up from 953p a year earlier.
| WORKSPACE (WKP) | ||||
| ORD PRICE: | 939p | MARKET VALUE: | £1.54bn | |
| TOUCH: | 938-940p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 959p | LOW: 629p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 2.5% | TRADING PROP: | £25.6m | |
| DISCOUNT TO NAV: | 9% | |||
| INVESTMENT PROP: | £2.13bn | NET DEBT: | 25% | |
| Half-year to | Net asset value | Pre-tax | Earnings per | Dividend |
| 30 Sep | (p) | profit (£m) | share (p) | per share (p) |
| 2016 | 968 | 7.1 | 4.4 | 6.8 |
| 2017 | 1,027 | 123.7 | 75.7 | 8.84 |
| % change | +6 | +1642 | +1620 | +30 |
| Ex-div: | 11 Jan | |||
| Payment: | 06 Feb |
