Property group strengthens foundations after strategic shift
The chief executive of Birmingham-based property group St Modwen has hailed “a year of excellent progress” as it implemented a new strategy that shifted the business to focus on growing sectors.
St Modwen’s strategy of weighting its portfolio away from retail and towards industrial and logistics development and its housebuilding business has seen it over-achieve on its target of selling £150m of retail assets this year.
Mark Allan said: “2018 has been a year of excellent progress against the strategic objectives we set out in June 2017 and our full year performance is in line with our expectations.
“Given the substantial opportunities in our existing pipeline and our strong capital base, we are now well positioned to deliver a meaningful improvement in earnings and return on capital in the years ahead.”
In May it sold large sites at Longbridge Shopping Park and Wembley Central, and last month it agreed the £72m sale of Edmonton Green shopping centre in north London.
It has brought in £48m from its share of 36 small assets, taking total proceeds from retail and small asset disposals to £225m.
In a statement to the stock market, St Modwen said: “While the external environment remains uncertain and the outlook for parts of the UK property market is challenging, our two key sectors, industrial/logistics and regional housebuilding, continue to see structural growth.”
