U+I has said it is now unlikely to meet even the lower end of its development and trading gains forecast for this year.
In its half year results in November, the firm had anticipated making development and trading gains of £35m to £45m for its current financial year.
But currently the figure is “materially below” the £35m target and U+I expects it is unlikely that a sufficient number of the projects it expected to contract by 31 March will do so now.
U+I said this was due to a slowdown in decision-making, due to Brexit and the UK’s political uncertainty, which impacted on the timing of some of its projects.
This included delays to securing planning consents following the election purdah and a slowdown in transaction timetables.
U+I added that the situation was now being “dramatically exacerbated” by the impact of Covid-19.
“There is currently no reliable way to predict, with certainty, the timing or value of transactions,” U+I said.
However, U+I remains in advanced legal negotiations on several projects in its development pipeline, such as the Harwell campus in Oxford, and if these successfully conclude could have a significant impact on the firm’s total year-end gains.
U+I added that it was proactively reducing its operating expenses and all non-essential capital expenditure.
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