Land values at Peel underpinned by planning approvals
PEEL Holdings’ Land and Property division benefited from an increase in revenues in the year to March 31, but interest payments on its debt pile of more than £907.8m (2009: £888.2m) meant the firm ended up declaring a pre-tax loss of £8m (£22.7m loss).
Newly-filed accounts for the firm showed that its turnover increased to £92.8m (£83.5m).
On the development side, the directors’ report accompanying Peel’s accounts said that the value of its land bank had been underpinned by significant increases at particular sites where planning had been approved for development, offsetting the overall effect of a general decline in land values.
The most notable of these has been Wirral Waters, where since its year end the firm gained approval for the £4.5bn, 17m sq ft redevelopment of The East Float docks area close to Birkenhead and Wallasey.
The directors’ report stated that the firm is pressing ahead with the £5.5bn, 14 m sq ft Liverpool Waters scheme and should submit plans in around six months.
“These will be the largest private-led regeneration schemes in the country,” it said.
During the year, the firm gained approval for its 1.5m sq ft scheme at Port Salford where it is planning to build warehousing around an inland port which will be connected via a new terminal to the rail network.
It also said that planning work for its £50bn Ocean Gateway scheme along the banks of the Ship Canal was also continuing.
Meanwhile, the refusal to grant planning permission for a huge new racecourse scheme at Forest Green Park in Salford could lead to a new luxury golf course and hotel being developed on the site instead.
Directors described the outlook for development activity as “promising with a slow but certain growth in confidence in the market – particularly in the house building sector.”
The accounts also showed the rent roll achieved on its rental portfolio dropped by around 3% to £66.9m, but the amount of vacant space available for rent also fell to just over 983,000 sq ft – from 1.02m sq ft last year.
This is partly due to increased sales of investment properties, which brought in £4.13m (£1.23m). The company said that around half of the available space consists of industrial property in Liverpool and Glasgow.
