This was a very busy first half for Harworth (HWG) in terms of acquisitions, disposals and planning consents, and with trading weighted towards the second half, the land and property developer expects to deliver full-year results in line with expectations.
Much of the 21,500-acre portfolio comprises former coalfield sites and other brownfield areas, which it is turning into new residential developments as well as 'oven-ready' land to sell to housebuilders.
Committed to beds and sheds in the Midlands and north England, consent was secured on 529 residential plots of which 444 came through planning promotion agreements. This is where Harworth incurs the cost and risk of putting land owned by a third-party through the planning process and, if successful, recouping its costs and a share of the profit when the land is sold. And after the half year, planning application was submitted for around 2m sq ft of commercial space.
There were six acquisitions made costing £50m, with the potential for the development of up to 2,000 homes and 1m sq ft of commercial space. Earnings per share were lower as the previous year included a deferred tax benefit.
Analysts at Peel Hunt are forecasting adjusted net asset value (NAV) at the December 2018 year-end of 138.4p per share, up from 128.9p in 2017.
| HARWORTH (HWG) | ||||
| ORD PRICE: | 129.5p | MARKET VALUE: | £ 416m | |
| TOUCH: | 129-130p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 130p | LOW: 101p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 0.7% | TRADING PROPERTIES: | £28.2m | |
| PREMIUM TO NAV: | 0% | NET DEBT: | 24% | |
| INVESTMENT PROPERTIES: | £279m* | |||
| Half-year to 30 Jun | Net asset value (p) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
| 2017 | 117 | 7.7 | 5.4 | 0.253 |
| 2018 | 129 | 6.6 | 1.7 | 0.278 |
| % change | +10 | -15 | -69 | +10 |
| Ex-div: | 20 Sep | |||
| Payment: | 19 Oct | |||
| *Includes joint ventures | ||||
