Focus on the ‘beds and sheds’ sectors sees Harworth’s revenues rise to £53m
Harworth Group, the brownfield land and property developer and investor, has this morning announced annual revenues of £53m during 2017 – a boost from £33m in 2016.
Reporting is annual results for the year ended 31 December 2017, the Yorkshire firm said its pre-tax profits stood at £41.8m, down on the 2016 figure of £43.4m.
The Rotherham-based company said it had been another year delivering double-digit EPRA NNNAV – net asset value adjusted to reflect the fair value of debt and derivatives and to include deferred taxation on revaluations.
EPRA NNNAV grew by 12.5% per share (2016: 12.5% per share) to 128.9p. For 2017, this stood at £414.2m, which included £27.1m equity capital raised during 2017 which has been fully deployed; a figure that has risen from £334.9m in 2016.
It secured planning in for the delivery of 825 residential plots and over 3m sq. ft of commercial space, bringing its consented portfolio to 10,448 residential plots and 12.13m sq. ft of commercial space.
The group made sales of properties of £54.8m in 2017 (2016: £58.9m). The sales were split between residential serviced plots of £23m (2016: £20.5m), commercial development of £22.7m (2016: £26.8m) and other, essentially agricultural land of £9.1m (2016: £11.6m).
Harworth made profit on disposals of £10.7m (2016: £8.8m), with all segments of the business achieving a profit on disposals with the two largest profits being from sales of land for residential and commercial occupiers at our flagship sites of Waverley and Logistics North respectively. In addition, Harworth undertook direct development on its sites with a land value of £2.1m and its share of property sales in its joint ventures was £0.9m.
The group said that in March 2017, £27.1m equity proceeds were fully invested through the acquisition of five sites, providing over 410 acres of development opportunities. Over the last three years, value gains on acquisitions of stood at more than 15% per annum.
During the year, 622 residential plots were sold (2016: 619 residential plots), across six parcels, at an average value of around £37,000 per plot, achieving profit on sale of £3.8m.
Over 360,000 sq. ft of long-term lettings were completed on five new commercial buildings, to logistics and manufacturing occupiers, at new headline rents alongside other portfolio rent improvements.
Owen Michaelson
Harworth’s chief executive, Owen Michaelson, said: “These are another strong set of results where we have again delivered double digit EPRA NNNAV growth, reflecting our continued ability to maximise the value of our portfolio whilst simultaneously growing our strategic landbank and income base through acquisitions and new lettings.
“Our focus, on the “beds and sheds” sectors in the North of England and the Midlands, is firmly underpinned by strong economic and consumer trends in the regions, and reinforced by supportive Government policy. This favourable backdrop coupled with active management has been reflected in 2017’s planning successes and the sales and lettings achieved at our major developments such as Waverley and Logistics North.
“Whilst our existing sites continue to perform well and have plenty of future potential, we are also pleased with the progress of the five new acquisitions to our strategic landbank, which were acquired with the cash proceeds from new equity raised last March. These acquisitions delivered significant revaluation gains in 2017 and provide a substantial pipeline for us to deliver further value gains through our market-leading planning and development expertise.
“2018 has started strongly, with over 50% of expected full year sales already agreed since the year-end and the completion of three new lettings generating additional recurring income, further demonstrating the success of our proven and robust strategy. This performance, together with the supportive market fundamentals in the areas in which we operate, means we look to the future with confidence.”
