Property group’s profits keep its focus on long-term opportunities
IM Properties is maintaining its long-term focus after another successful year for the Midlands property group.
The business is one of UK’s largest privately-owned property companies and is developing the major logistics scheme Peddimore and the growing site at Blythe Valley Park.
Gymshark’s headquarters at Blythe Valley Business Park
It has revealed pre-tax profits of £46m for 2018 and although this is down by one-quarter on the previous year, the group is satisfied with its performance.
Managing director Tim Wooldridge highlighted the group’s “stable base with strong positive cash generation”, which provides the platform for its development arm to push ahead with large-scale projects.
He said: “We’ve been doing a lot of work behind the scenes over the past 12 months to maintain a healthy position going forward, identifying new opportunities and looking at new trends and investments.
“Being a privately-owned group, we’re agile and able to go where the market demands, pioneering new approaches to delivering property and sustainable schemes.”
The group’s turnover jumped by nearly £80m to £220m, driven by the performance of its commercial division. Stand-out pre-lets included the £150m DPD super-hub at Hinckley Park, the 250,000 sq ft pre-let to Kitchencraft on The Hub, near Birmingham, and the letting of the first speculatively-built office scheme on the M42 for a decade at Blythe Valley Park.
Expansion in the US is also delivering results. It has enjoyed success with its $240m lifestyle centre at Brookfield, Wisconsin. The 400,000 sq ft of retail and 244 residential apartments are now 80% and 98% leased respectively, which has led its US division to invest in two further developments in the Chicago area.
