Stobart pays down Moneypenny debt

LOGISTICS giant the Stobart Group has been selling off property it acquired from two senior executives.

Shareholders agreed to buy a portfolio of 18 properties from its chief executive Andrew Tinkler and chief operating officer William Stobart in 2012, paying £12.3m and assuming £90m of debt.

It involved 18 properties, known as the Moneypenny portfolio, covering commercial, retail residential and industrial units.

In an interim management statement the company said it had raised £85m from sales since October 2012 and was using net proceeds of £64m to reduce the debt to £10.9m. The sales have left the portfolio with a value of £45.3m.

However, the debt reduction took longer than planned which means the group’s full-year results will include higher interest costs than anticipated.

Meanwhile, the group said profitability had continued to improve and underlying earnings were ahead in the period from September to December.