Crystal increases Sutton Harbour stake to 10%

15th Jun 2010 10:28

Crystal Amber Fund has increased its stake in fellow AIM-quoted firm Sutton Harbour, which is trying to sell its airline business, to more than 10%. Investment company Crystal Amber has taken its stake in the property regeneration and harbour operating business from 9.12% to 10.03%. Sutton Harbour is in talks to sell its regional airline Air Southwest, which is currently losing money. Crystal Amber is supportive of this move because it is keen for Sutton Harbour to do something about the cash outflow from the airline. This will enable Sutton Harbour to concentrate on the property regeneration and harbour activities. Negotiations to sell the airline are continuing and management is hopeful that they can be concluded in the near future. Despite the airline's loss, Sutton Harbour turned a loss of £3.4m into a profit of £2.5m in 2009-10. The sale of a tranche of land at Plymouth Airport helped to boost profit. A lower impairment charge and reduced interest costs also helped. The company's net asset value is £43.1m. A share issue raised £6.7m last year. Net debt was £15m at the end of March 2010 and it should stay at around that level this year. This year's profit is underpinned by the sale of another tranche of land at Plymouth Airport. Arden forecasts a profit of £3.5m this year and £3.8m next year.