LXB Retail Properties grows NAV and profits in first half

17th Jun 2013 07:37

Jersey-based retail real estate group LXB Retail Properties saw decent growth in both net asset value (NAV) and profits in its first half, according to a statement on Monday, while it announced a number of 'substantial' transactions in Greenwich.The company, which is focused mainly on edge-of-town and out-of-town retail assets, saw its adjusted NAV per share in the six months ended March 31st grow 4.63% to 117.16p from 111.98p by September 30th.When compared with with the year before, pre-tax profit rose 28% from £8.7m to £11.1m, while earnings per share were up 27% from 3.39p to 4.31p.The bottom-line growth came despite gross rental income being flat at £2.5m year-on-year, as the company saw a near-£5.0m profit on the sale of investment properties, compared with a slight loss the year before. "The backdrop to the group's business remains challenging as retailers continue to cope with sluggish consumer demand whilst looking to adjust their formats to multi-channel," said Chairman Phil Wrigley. "We remain confident however, that they will continue to pay for the best space that satisfies their evolving needs and that we are developing space that fits their requirements."Nevertheless, he warned that the planning system still remains slow and costly as a consequence of this challenging environment and the pipeline of new developments is "generally very limited".GreenwichAfter making several investments in Greenwich since its stock-market debut in 2009, LXB has now announced plans to reduce its presence in the area. These plans include: the conditional sale of the Sainsbury/Marks & Spencer site; the unconditional sale of Stone Lake Retail Park; the conditional sale of a Wickes unit at Brocklebank Road; as well as an option to sell the rest of the Brocklebank Road site.The deals will create "significant" amounts of surplus cash over the coming months. If all the conditions are satisfied, these will crystallise a total surplus of £41m with a return on cost of 26.5% and permit a return of capital of up to £103m over the coming 18 months.Following the transactions, as well as the previously reported sales of foodstores in Sheppey and Gloucester, LXB now has an interest in five core retail investment schemes at Banbury, Biggleswade, Rushden, Stafford and Sutton. "We anticipate being able to recognise almost all of the value on these investments by September 2014," the firm said.