LXB sees NAV fall as sell-off continues
LXB Retail Property’s timetable for winding up has slipped by two years to March 2019, as the fund attempts to sell assets and return money to shareholders.
Posting annual results today, the closed-ended fund said it had abandoned plans to establish a new AIM-listed entity to take over management of its ongoing assets and liabilities, including Rushden Lakes.
LXB has been selling assets in a bid to return cash to investors, and had hoped to complete that process by May of this year. A new company was to be established in order to develop out the LXB’s remaining longer-term investments, which also include a the cinema and leisure development at Stafford, and a new “Living Village” on the edge of Truro.
LXB Retail Property’s timetable for winding up has slipped by two years to March 2019, as the fund attempts to sell assets and return money to shareholders.
Posting annual results today, the closed-ended fund said it had abandoned plans to establish a new AIM-listed entity to take over management of its ongoing assets and liabilities, including Rushden Lakes.
LXB has been selling assets in a bid to return cash to investors, and had hoped to complete that process by May of this year. A new company was to be established in order to develop out the LXB’s remaining longer-term investments, which also include a the cinema and leisure development at Stafford, and a new “Living Village” on the edge of Truro.
However, that timetable has now slipped and LXB now expects to have wound up the company by March 2019, with an AIM-listing abandoned because the assets were deemed too risky and burdensome for any new vehicle.
The company’s NAV was 29.52p, down from 56.7p a year ago, reflecting a loss of 9.18p a share in its results for the year to the end of September. This was down from 56.7p a year ago, reflecting a loss of 9.18p a share in its results for the year to the end of September.
The share price has seen a dramatic fall of nearly 50% to hover today at around 20p.
Solicitors are currently instructed on sales of Riverside Retail Park and the cinema and leisure investments at Stafford.
Phil Wrigley, LXB chairman, said that a return of cash, likely to be in excess of 10p per share, would be made in the first quarter of next year. He added: “The potential to capture the inherent value from the final phase at Rushden Lakes, the Garden Square, where we believe there is significant occupational demand, means that there is a reasonable prospect that we can meet our NAV guidance of between 30p and 35p in cash over the period to 31 March 2019.”
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