Harworth (HWG) has completed over 70 per cent of its budgeted sales for the whole of 2019 – something the land and property regenerator attributes to the underlying strength of the 'beds and sheds' markets. Demonstrating continued demand, the group has sold 1,091 residential plots and completed or exchanged on a further 55 acres for commercial development. It plans to put the money from these transactions towards ongoing site remediation, infrastructure works and acquisitions.
To the latter point, Harworth’s shift to a regional operating model underpinned six land- and income-related acquisitions during the first half – four of which are located in the North West and Midlands regions – for £18.8m. These could give rise to more than 2,400 residential plots.
But it was not all smooth sailing. May’s local elections saw a change of leadership in certain local authorities, which has slowed down the determination of some of Harworth’s live planning applications. Even so, management sees these as temporary issues.
House broker Peel Hunt forecasts adjusted net asset value (NAV) of 156p at the December 2019 year-end, up from 145p at the same time in the prior year.
| HARWORTH (HWG) | ||||
| ORD PRICE: | 128p | MARKET VALUE: | £412m | |
| TOUCH: | 127.5-128p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 137p | LOW: 106p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 0.7% | TRADING PROPERTIES: | £14.2m | |
| DISCOUNT TO NAV: | -9% | NET DEBT: | 12% | |
| INVESTMENT PROPERTIES: | £295m* | |||
| Half-year to 30 Jun | Net asset value (p) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
| 2018 | 129 | 6.6 | 1.7 | 0.278 |
| 2019 | 141 | 18.5 | 4.7 | 0.304 |
| % change | +10 | +180 | +176 | +9 |
| Ex-div: | 18 Oct | |||
| Payment: | 19 Sep | |||
| *Includes joint ventures | ||||
