Max Property Group is looking to add to its £285m portfolio over the final 18 months of its five-year investment period.
Nick Leslau’s and Mike Brown’s investment vehicle, which was listed in May 2009, has £90m to spend and anticipates a period of “better buying conditions” as “the pendulum of investor sentiment swings into negative territory”.
The group delivered a 2.6% rise in net asset value to 133.4p a share for the year to March 2012 – which reflects a 38% rise since listing.
The increase was driven by rental growth, which contributed 11.9p to NAV, rather than an increase in the value of the group’s portfolio, which remained “steady” over the year, dropping 0.7% and stripping 1.4p from NAV.
The group’s 74-strong secondary industrial portfolio, Industrious, fell in value by 4.1%, which was considered good by analysts given current market conditions. The vacancy rate by area of this stock was reduced from 16% to 15%.
Max’s best-performing assets by valuation movement were its London pubs portfolio, which rose in value by 11%, while the largest fall came from the nightclub portfolio, which dropped 11% but only makes up 2% of its total holdings.
Looking ahead, chief executive Mike Brown said future NAV growth would be driven by its St Katharine Docks estate, which it bought in a joint venture for £164.5m during the period and has only just started refurbishing and redeveloping.
The group’s net loan-to-value ratio at the year end was 27.3%, including joint ventures.
