Helical Bar has seen its net asset value dip by 3p to 250p but has returned to the black with a pretax profit.
The investor and developer delivered a pretax profit of £7.4m in annual results for the year to the end of March – up from a £6.3m loss the previous year.
The group’s share of net rental income spiked 29% to £22.9m.
The value of its portfolio rose 0.7%, with offices leading the way on a 3.2% gain split between London which was up 3.2% and the South East with a 2.5% rise.
Retail was broadly flat overall, and industrial was the weakest, falling 3.3% while “others” recorded gains of 12.6%.
Development profits came in at £0.7m up from a loss of £16.6m a year earlier.
Analyst Osmaan Malik, from JP Morgan Cazenove, said: “The company delivered as promised in a number of areas: on numbers, no further material write-downs, capital recycling, and attractive acquisitions.”
“Despite retail headwinds, Helical was able to maintain/increase rental income across its retail portfolio – impressive in the current environment.”
He added: “Now it is time to move to the next phase: delivering on developments” which includes plans for a 450,000 sq ft mixed-use development at Barts Square, EC1, and a 1.25m sq ft residential-led scheme at White City, W12.
Chief executive, Mike Slade, said: “We have performed strongly over the year and the continued efforts to address the imbalance in our business by increasing the company’s weighting towards income-producing properties has been vindicated by Helical’s return to profitability.
“Our ability to outperform our peers in the future will depend upon the strength of our development pipeline and it is that part of the business that offers the greatest opportunity for growth.
“We are increasingly redirecting our hard-earned equity to London and the South East, markets which currently represent 47% of our portfolio.
“The next few years are all about Central London and happily that is where we hold our most exciting assets. The prospects for substantial profits in respect of our London and retail developments provide cause for optimism for the future performance of the company.”
The company agreed £130m of new bank facilities during the year, including a £100m revolving credit facility with RBS, with a further £32m agreed since the year end.
Bridget.O’Connell@estatesgazette.com
