Shaftesbury continues to drive a strong performance from its central London portfolio, posting a 13.9% leap in net asset value to £5.67p a share.
The value of the listed company’s 13-acre West End holdings have pushed through the £2bn mark after a £174.3m uplift over the year to the end of September.
Its capital value return was 9.5%, which was the result of like-for-like growth in current income and ERV of 5.4% and 4.5% respectively.
This was coupled with yield compression of 24 basis points in the wholly owned portfolio, which comprises 560 properties around Carnaby Street, Covent Garden, Chinatown, Soho and Charlotte Street, and 15 basis points in the Longmartin joint venture.
Income rose by £5m to £85.9m. However, the firm said an “unusually high number” of projects under way had “temporarily constrained growth in net property income”.
These 50 redevelopment and refurbishment projects across 165,000 sq ft – representing 9% of total floorspace – included its 32,500 sq ft development fronting Foubert’s Place and Kingly Street.
During the period Shaftesbury purchased properties totalling £28m and it continues to focus on investing in the right location, uses, potential for change of use and refurbishment, and benefits from combination with our existing ownerships.
Shaftesbury said it has £90.8m of committed unutilised bank facilities, conservative gearing at an LTV of 29.5% and its earliest debt maturities in 2016 are “being addressed in advance of contractual maturities”.
It announced a final dividend of 6.25p, bringing the total for the year to 12.5p, an increase of 4.2% on last year.
Chief executive Brian Bickell said: “The West End and our central locations are clearly benefiting from London’s dynamism and growing global reputation.
“A noticeable increase in domestic and international visitors… coupled with a gradual recovery in consumer confidence in the UK and abroad, visitor spending is increasing, encouraging retailers, restaurateurs and other leisure-related businesses to establish new ventures, particularly in and around the West End.
“This year, growth in our income and revenue profit has been tempered by the increased amount of redevelopment and refurbishment activity across the portfolio, particularly in Carnaby.
“The first of the two important schemes in Foubert’s Place is now substantially let and, together with a number of other schemes in the portfolio, is now making an important contribution to the revenue growth we expect to see in the coming financial year.
“The exceptional qualities of our unique portfolio, located in the centre of one of the world’s most exciting, dynamic and prosperous cities, have again been demonstrated this year in the growth in our income and capital values.”
bridget.o’connell@estatesgazette.com
