Panther securities to pay special dividend after asset sales

19th Jan 2016 09:10

(ShareCast News) - Panther Securities said it intends to pay a special dividend of 10p per share before the end of March, after a series of successful asset disposals.The property trust, led by UKIP supporter Andrew Perloff, said it had sold £10.6m in property and shares in department store chain Beales."The sales...other than the Beales shares, have mainly taken place at prices well above last year's book value. There were, however, two non-income producing sites which sold at slightly below their book value, although being well above their original cost," Perloff said."There are a number of other potential sales still in progress, some already agreed in principle. We hope more of these may also come to fruition during the current year."Perloff, who produces what could only be described as an unconventional chairman's statement, which he calls "chairman's ramblings", expressed concern about the future path of global economic policy in the wake of the recent rise in US interest rates.He compared the approach of central banks to that of cars feeling their way through the London smog of the 1950s."We have had quantitative easing and artificially low interest rates for some years. The American Federal Reserve stopped its quantitative easing a little over a year ago and has just started raising interest rates," he said."The Fed is considered the world's leader in central government banks. I wonder what will happen now its quantitative easing has stopped and the rates are rising. Will all the other central banks, who appear to be following blindly and seem to be in the dark on their own country's financial situation create the type of chaos I remember from 60 years ago."