Harworth Group to surpass full year expectations after ‘strong’ operational performance

Harworth Group, the regenerator of land and property for development and investment, anticipates that its full-year financial results will “be ahead of its expectations” due to a strong operational performance.

In a trading update for the year ending 31 December, the Rotherham-based firm reported profits on sales from the disposal of four engineered development land parcels for 632 residential plots, for £20m.

During this period, the group also sold engineered development land for commercial uses totalling 1.1m sq. ft, including the sale in October of the 55-acre Lounge site in Leicestershire for £18.7m and the £10.9m sale of the G2 plot at Logistics North.

In addition, Harworth secured planning consent for 761 residential plots and around 77,000 sq ft of commercial space on six sites.

Planning permission has also been submitted in the second half of the year for over 3.3m sq ft of commercial space and nearly 1,000 residential plots, with the majority due to be determined in 2019

Owen Michaelson, CEO of Harworth, said: “The momentum generated from the Group’s strong first half results continued into the second half, meaning that we anticipate full year results to exceed our expectations.

“Sales of consented land at our key development sites have been realised at prices above book value whilst good progress on planning, and future sales and lettings has driven the indicated growth in the valuation of our portfolio.

“We remain confident in the long-term fundamentals of the residential and commercial markets in our focus regions in the North of England and the Midlands, notwithstanding any short-term political or economic uncertainty resulting from Brexit negotiations. This gives us the assurance we need to continue to invest selectively in new sites to deliver future shareholder value.”

The group will announce its full year results on 5 March.