The Crown Estate said today that it had managed to “navigate the troubled waters” of the credit crunch, reporting a 5.6% increase in profits to more than £210m.
Full year figures from the company, released this morning, reveal that that the value of the Crown – the organisation that manages properties formerly owned by royalty – rose by 3.3% in the 12 months ended 31 March, producing a net surplus for the tax payer of £211.4m.
Turnover across the estate grew by 1% to £264.8m.
The value of the “urban estate” – largely comprising the Crown’s Regent Street landholdings – dropped by just 0.2% on last year to £5.38bn, while turnover nudged downwards by 0.7% to £194.4m.
The Crown said the decreases were caused by poor performance in the retail sector, which experienced negligible rental growth and a 15.8% fall in property values during the period.
Total returns across the Crown’s entire portfolio dropped almost 20 percentage points to hit 7.7%. However, the estate continued to significantly outperform the industry benchmark provided by the IPD quarterly figure of -9.1%.
Chief executive Roger Bright said: “This has been a challenging year for the property sector. Although we take a long-term view and focus on good quality assets that will sustain continued growth for the future, we are nevertheless subject to short-term market conditions.”
He added: “I am pleased to report that we have navigated the troubled waters with demonstrable success and are well-positioned to face the challenges that lie ahead.”
