Leeds-based Town Centre Securities has finally given in to industry convention and decided to have its portfolio valued by outside consultants every year.
TCS, which owns three shopping centres, is one of a handful of companies that commission external valuations every five years, the minimum required by the Stock Exchange.
Chief executive Edward Ziff said that the move to annual external valuations was in response to City pressure. “We are coming into line with the rest of the market. I’m not sure we necessarily agree with it, but there comes a time when you have to conform.”
Results for the year to June showed an 11% jump in net assets to 134p per share. Montagu Evan’s valued the portfolio at £267m, compared with the directors’ £244m valuation last year.
Pretax profit rose 7% to £10.6m, excluding one-off gains of £630,000 from selling shares in James Smith Estates and a £2.2m tax credit.
Ziff said: “We are conscious that we have to manage the portfolio better. Eighty per cent of the portfolio has done well. The bottom 20% is something we are going to spend time dealing with.”
