Focus on growth markets drives progress at property group
Land and property regenerator, Harworth Group, says it has maintained a strong balance sheet and financial position as it releases its full year results for the 12 months ended 31 December 2022.
The Rotherham-headquartered business has posted revenues of £166.7m (2021: £109.9m) and pre-tax profits of £30.9m (2021: £127.2m).
Net asset value has risen to £602.7m (2021: £578m) and the group reports net debt of £48.4m (2021: £25.7m).
Lynda Shillaw, chief executive, said: “We continued to make significant operational progress during the year, delivering increased levels of direct development, accelerated land sales and targeted acquisitions in line with our strategy to become a £1bn business by 2027.
“Following a significant increase in valuations during the first half, we saw market-driven outward yield shifts across our Investment Portfolio and more mature industrial & logistics development sites during the second half.
“At this early stage in the year we remain cautious about the economic backdrop for 2023. While there have been some recent positive indicators, uncertainty is likely to remain in our markets until interest rates reach their peak, and inflation falls back to manageable levels, creating the conditions for growth and improved investor confidence.
“Against this backdrop, our focus markets of residential and industrial & logistics continue to be drivers of economic growth and have robust fundamentals, while there remains an acute shortage of high-quality consented land.”
Harworth reports record direct development of Grade A space, with continued good occupier demand.
It adds that robust housebuilder demand and management actions drove significant growth in residential plot sales in line with, or ahead of book value, with a potential to deliver a further 29,311 plots from pipeline.
The group completed residential land sales representing 2,236 plots (2021: 1,411 plots). H2 sales were at prices in line with, or ahead of, June 2022 valuations.
During the same period, acquisitions added 2,643 plots and 8.5m sq ft to Harworth’s pipeline.
