Quintain’s Wembley flagship takes £77m hit

  Quintain Estates has taken a £77m hit to the value of its Wembley regeneration scheme.   The developer and investor was forced to write down the value of the flagship project when it reported an 11.5% fall in net asset value for the year ending 31 March.   Quintain said the book values of its major London schemes were affected by the adverse market conditions, with Wembley down 11% for the year. However, it posted a small valuation rise at Greenwich Peninsula of 2.5%.   The Wembley City scheme is now valued at £620m and Greenwich at £254m.   Quintain also confirmed that it had secured Brent council’s 250,000 sq ft headquarters for the heart of its Wembley scheme.   However, the fall in property values saw the group report a £54.7m pre-tax loss against a £48.6m profit one year earlier.   The group’s funds under management increased from £711m to £1bn.   Chairman John Plender said: “While we will not be immune from a further deteriorating property market, our exposure to less cyclical sectors, such as healthcare and student accommodation, will continue to stand us in good stead.”   “With regard to our major schemes, the timing of the build-out is under our control and can be managed opportunistically to suit our balance sheet and prevailing market conditions.”   chris.bourke@rbi.co.uk