Helical’s (HLCL) transformation is now complete, following the disposal of non-core assets including logistics, retail and retirement villages, taking the number of owned assets within the portfolio to 12, down from 75 two years ago – and with the focus now on offices in London and Manchester.
Disposals of £484m generated a profit of £15m, while the loan-to-value ratio fell from 55 per cent to 39.9 per cent in the year ending March 2018. Headline profits were lower, but this was after early redemption of its retail bond, which will have the benefit of reducing interest payments by £11.1m in the period to June 2020 when the bonds were to have matured.
Demand for office space in London saw an additional three floors of The Tower in London let prior to the completion of building works, and the building is now 52 per cent pre-let. New office lettings in London totalled 41 at an 8.1 per cent premium to March 2017 estimated rental value, while 10 lettings in Manchester achieved a premium of 10.8 per cent. A total of 294,000 square feet (sq ft) of office developments are under construction, including 89,000 sq ft of offices at the Farringdon Elizabeth line station.
Analysts at Peel Hunt are forecasting adjusted net asset value at the March 2019 year end of 497.6p a share, up from 468p in 2018.
| HELICAL (HLCL) | ||||
| ORD PRICE: | 379p | MARKET VALUE: | £ 449m | |
| TOUCH: | 378-379p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 399p | LOW: 285 |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 2.5% | TRADING STOCK: | £6m | |
| DISCOUNT TO NAV: | 16% | |||
| INVESTMENT PROPERTIES: | £820m* | NET DEBT: | 61% | |
| Year to 31 Mar | Net asset value (p) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
| 2014 | 292 | 102 | 75.0 | 6.75 |
| 2015 | 353 | 87 | 64.6 | 7.25 |
| 2016 | 425 | 114 | 91.3 | 8.17 |
| 2017 | 442 | 41.6 | 34.0 | 8.6 |
| 2018 | 450 | 30.8 | 22.3 | 9.5 |
| % change | +2 | -26 | -34 | +10 |
| Ex-div | 14 Jun | |||
| Payment: | 20 Jul | |||
| *Includes joint ventures | ||||
