Rents down 4% at Peel’s property arm
PEEL Holdings’ Land & Property division, which holds some of its flagship assets such as Liverpool Waters, saw finance charges dent profits last year.
In the year to the end of March operating profits slipped 4% to £44m on revenues of £78.3m, down 1%.
But the bottom line pre-tax profit figure nearly halved to £16.7m, mainly due to higher interest charges of £66.1m.
The company ended the year with net debt £50m lower at £871m but the overall loan-to-value was marginally higher at 61.8% (2013: 61.6%). Rents slipped by 4% to £67.1m.
The division holds: Liverpool and Wirral Waters; its logistics interests; retail parks; Chatham Waters in Kent; land around the Trafford Centre; other land interests, many of which have been used for residential schemes; and Peel’s energy from waste interests.
The retail parks business has 2.3m sq ft across 12 sites and an occupancy rate of 86%. During the year there were 25 new lettings adding £2.9m in rent. The value of the estate rose to £436.1m (2013: 428.6m) and the business generated rents of £25.6m.
The accounts show the properties at Liverpool Waters, the regeneration area consisting of the docks north of the city centre, were valued at £103m in March, up from £101.4m, and had a rent roll of £5.1m.
Wirral Waters, the former Birkenhead docks, has properties valued at £96m, down from £100.1m, and a passing rent of £5.1m. Both schemes are in the early stages but plans for a 175,000 sq ft manufacturing facility in Birkenhead have just been lodged, and a new campus is being built for Wirral Metropolitan College.
