City briefs: BMO Commercial Property; Esken; NWF
The Asda supermarket and Currys/PC World store in Rochdale have been sold in a £35m deal to an unnamed investor.
BMO Commercial Property Trust has sold its Dane Street properties, which include the supermarket, petrol station and retail warehouse.
Asda has recently extended its lease until 2038 although Currys’ lease expires next March.
BMO said the disposal “continues the strategy of adopting a higher level of activity within the portfolio” as it looks to recycle capital and adjust sector weightings.
The sale price is 12% higher than the valuation at the end of 2020 and represents an initial yield of 4.75%.
Esken has said it “remains confident” about its prospects after discussions with airlines ahead of summer 2022 as it continues to feel the impact of the pandemic on travel.
The aviation and energy infrastructure group, which used to be known as Stobart, runs London Southend Airport.
It has delayed the restart of commercial passenger operations to next spring to “minimise operating expenditure and maintain tight cost control”.
The Airport still has £19.7m of ringfenced cash following the completion of Esken’s refinancing earlier this summer.
The wider group had £90.5m of liquidity available to it at end of August – ahead of management expectations – which includes a £20m undrawn revolving credit facility.
Fuel, food and feed group NWF has “not been negatively impacted” by a nationwide driver shortage.
The group said its “proven capability to manage its supply chain and delivery infrastructure effectively” means it has been able to support its customers without suffering the issues that have affected a wide range of businesses and caused havoc for drivers in recent days.
NWF’s chair Philip Acton will speak at the group’s AGM later today and will tell shareholders that the three months to August were above expectations and net debt has been reduced.
He will say: “We continue to have confidence in the group’s future prospects and to target development opportunities supported by our strong balance sheet and banking facilities.”
