Property provided a major part of this year’s profits for Heron International, Gerald Ronson’s private company. At £55.2m, pre-tax profits are up 10% in the year to end March 1988.
The property division’s profits more than doubled, rising to £49.6m (£22m).
According to chairman Gerald Ronson, the buoyant property market provided Heron with the opportunity to rationalise its investment portfolio.
Heron made a net surplus of £12.4m (£200,000) on the sale of investment properties. Its portfolio in now worth £370m, producing a net rental income of £23.3m pa. The UK component of the portfolio is valued at £227m.
Heron’s development programme now exceeds £400m, a major part being town-centre schemes. Projects include The Marlands, a 350,000-sq ft shopping development in Southampton, 300,000 sq ft in the Merchant Quays scheme in Cork and a £100m town-centre redevelopment in Fareham.
Overseas, there are 360,000 sq ft of offices in the pipeline at La Defense outside Paris, and the second phase of the 175,000-sq ft Diagonal development in Barcelona in Spain, 60% prelet.
Heron now owns 750,000 sq ft of prime freehold offices in Madrid and Barcelona, including developments.
The company’s commercial division — which takes in Heron Homes, the petrol stations, H R Owens and Heron’s video and communications businesses — was the year’s other success story. Its profits rose from £13.8m to £39.2m.
However, big losses incurred by Pima, Heron’s US savings and loan subsidiary, meant the financial services division barely broke even with £200,000 profit (£23.1m). Other activities — mainly management and financial — lost £12.5m (£4m profit) and unallocated group finance charges wiped a further £21.3m off profits (£12.8m loss).
