Town Centre Securities “looks forward with confidence”
CHIEF executive of property firm Town Centre Securities, Edward Ziff, has said he is “looking forward with confidence” after major investments in flagship projects.
Gross revenues for the firm stayed reasonably steady, rising slightly to £22.7m from £22.6m in their results for the year ended 30 June 2014.
The firm saw a dip in pretax profits, down from £27.4m to £24.0m, with much of this down to the revaluation of TCS properties and the selling of other sites.
The redevelopment of Town Centre Securities’ flagship site the Merrion Centre has begun, adding to the firm’s valuation movement, with Pure Gym signing up to a 20,600 sq ft site, and completing a lease renewal with Morrisons which has also seen them invest in a refit.
The Merrion Hotel Franchise, which has stood empty, agreements have been signed with Ibis Styles and Marco Pierre White to create a 134 bed hotel and 4,000 sq ft restaurant.
Other properties under the TCS banner, such as Vicar Lane, adjacent to the Victoria Gate development, Whitehall Riverside, which is getting a hotel, and Albion Place, which saw Sainsbury’s moving into a unit, have all performed well.
Elsewhere, the sale of Goodramgate, York for £3.55m was completed, as was the sales of properties at Apperley Bridge and Victoria Gate for total consideration of £9.7m.
This year, two non-executive directors, Ian Marcus and Paul Huberman, were appointed whilst Howard Stanton retired.
Chief executive Edward Ziff, said: “Retail valuations have continued to rise in the regions and we expect this to continue as the economic backdrop continues to improve.
“The letting market remains competitive but we continue to find opportunities to increase income in all areas of our portfolio and over the next couple of years our income will benefit from the transactions we have already concluded.
“This is particularly so in the Merrion Centre where the Merrion House deal is now underway. We intend to increase portfolio sales and purchase activity this year.
“We will continue our car park acquisitions programme as we have already seen this contributing positively to our profits.
“Overall we look forward with confidence and are encouraged by the many profitable opportunities that we have to deliver attractive shareholder returns.”
