Urban Splash starting to make waves with £44.4m revenue
REGENERATION specialist Urban Splash – the Manchester property developer, has reported a a profit of £7.6m on revenues of £44.4m.
The group, led by charismatic entrepreneur Tom Bloxham said it had repaid £128.8m of debt during the year.
The 21-year-old company said since the conclusion of a major restructure, it had refinanced of £195.9m of debt and sold worth of £93.6m of property.
The period from July 2013 to September 30 2014 also saw the establishment of new joint venture partnerships with Places for People and The Pears Group and several new residential and commercial schemes in Manchester, Plymouth, Sheffield, Bristol and North Shields including the launch of the Urban Splash new modular housing concept – hoUSe.
Urban Splash said it has also continued to manage its commercial property, with investment income of more than £11.6m and a residential portfolio of over 840 rented homes with an occupancy of 97%.
Chairman Tom Bloxham said: “The challenges and demands of the last five years are now behind us and we are pleased to be firmly focused on growing our business once again.
“This, our first full year of trading as a restructured and refinanced group, has been one of the busiest, most complex but most successful periods in the group’s 21 year history.
“Last year’s successful restructure has proved a key turning point in the group’s fortunes and has provided the platform to significantly reduce our debt exposure whilst growing our business and providing us the ability to pursue the many new opportunities which a recovering market has presented.”
Bloxham hailed new projects started around the country, including at Park Hill in Sheffield, the first phase of Smiths Dock in North Shields and the start of the second phase of the Lakeshore development at Bristol.
“On our own account, we have started on site with new development projects at Stubbs Mill in New Islington (in Manchester), continued the development of further phases of Royal William Yard in Plymouth and started the redevelopment of New Hall in Liverpool. We are also progressing our residential scheme at Springfield Lane in Salford which we hope to commence on site in the near future.”
“The reported loss of £43.4 million appears to conflict with the positive statements above, however this figure incorporates two large charges to the profit and loss account (£30.4 million goodwill impairment and £14.9 million amortisation of swap losses) these relate to the way the group was historically funded and how that debt was restructured and refinanced.
“The charges, which did not have any cash outflows, do not affect the current operations of the group and specifically the newly formed companies which comprise the bulk of the group’s trading activity. After adjusting for these items, the group made a profit.”
