Strong revenue growth for Grosvenor
THE property group behind the Liverpool ONE shopping centre saw revenues increase by £72m last year.
London-based Grosvenor, controlled by the Duke of Westminster, said income rose to £266.9m in the year to the end of December.
Revenue profit – its key measure of operational performance – grew by 8.2% to £87.4m due to lower costs and higher income.
The group, which owns 300 acres of central London as well as other property assets around the world, said the pre-tax profit, which includes changes in property values, rose from £315m to £354.4m.
It was pleased with Liverpool ONE’s performance, saying: “Liverpool One received its 100,000,000th visitor in September, eight new brands took over 6,500 sq m of space, taking South John Street, Paradise Street and Peter’s Lane to 100% occupancy; and at year end footfall exceeded 26 million for the first time, with stores trading on average 26% ahead of their UK average.”
The value of Grosvenor’s property assets were level at £5.8bn and its assets under management were £12.2bn, down from £12.5bn. Its activities in Britain and Ireland were behind the growth with revenue profit rising from £16.4m to £38.1m and assets rising in value from £4.2bn to £4.8bn.
Chief executive Mark Preston said: “This is another year of strong performance from Grosvenor with our London portfolio again contributing significantly. Looking ahead, our confidence in the future of the cities in which we are active around the world is reflected in a further rise in the value of our international development pipeline, from £3bn to £3.4bn.”
Shareholders’ funds increased 7.8% to £3.08bn and now stand at their highest ever level.
