Helical Bar chief executive Mike Slade said its central London portfolio provides “cause for optimism” as the company looks forward to a return to form.
The investor and developer returned to the black with a pretax profit of £7.4m in results for the year to the end of March – up from a £6.3m loss the previous year. The increase came despite a 3p dip in NAV to 250p a share as the value of its portfolio rose a modest 0.7%.
Offices led the way with a 3.2% gain, split between London, which was up 3.2%, and the South East, with a 2.5% rise. Retail was flat overall, and industrial was the weakest, falling 3.3%, while “others” recorded gains of 12.6%.
Development profits came in at £700,000, up from a loss of £16.6m a year earlier.
Osmaan Malik, an analyst at JP Morgan Cazenove, said: “Helical delivered as promised in a number of areas: on numbers, no further material write-downs, capital recycling, and attractive acquisitions.”
He added: “Now it is time to move to the next phase: delivering on developments.” These include 450,000 sq ft of mixed-use space at Barts Square, EC1, and a 1.25m sq ft residential-led scheme at White City, W12.
Slade said: “Our ability to outperform our peers will depend upon the strength of our development pipeline and it is that which offers the greatest opportunity for growth.”
