AIM-listed property lender Urban Exposure plans to cut its operating base to £9.5m next year in a bid to support the profitability of the business in the new financial year.
The funder was approached by major shareholder R20 Advisory, a business run by Robert Tchenguiz, last month with a restructuring proposal for the business to restore shareholder value and improve liquidity in its shares. Urban Exposures shares have traded at as much as a 40% discount to NAV this year. Tchenguiz’s R20 believed this was due to the high management costs across the business.
Urban Exposure said it was continuing to review R20’s proposals and a number of different proposals for the company but that it expected its operating costs for 2019 to be lower than previously anticipated due to reduced staff costs costs arising from both lower variable remuneration costs and hiring fewer people than previously budgeted.
