Earnings jump at Development Securities
DEVELOPMENT Securities, which has sold a number of North West assets in the past year, has reported a significant hike in earnings.
The London-based developer said revenues fell by 20% to £79.3m but pre-tax profits jumped from £792,000 to £19.5m.
In the year to the end of February the group disposed of assets worth £260m, and this included its share of the Phones 4u Arena and a residential site at Broughton near Chester. The deals were worth £82m and £11m respectively.
Since the year end it has sold the shopping centre in Chorlton and a retail warehouse in Crewe, but it still has interests in the region, including The Square in Hale Barns and a large mixed-use scheme at Luneside East in Lancaster.
Chief executive Michael Marx said: “The strong improvement in our performance during the year was driven by continued significant gains from within our development and trading portfolio and an increase in the value of our regional investment portfolio.
“We have an extensive portfolio of projects that is set to deliver strong gains in the coming years. With the UK economy continuing to strengthen and some enhanced liquidity returning to real estate markets outside London, we have accelerated our program of asset disposals within our investment portfolio.
“This will allow us to recycle capital into further investment opportunities that offer enhanced growth prospects. We are well positioned to capitalise on further opportunities in those sectors of the market that we have selected for value creation, and to deliver enhanced shareholder returns.”
