St. Modwen Properties reports strong start to the year

28th Mar 2014 07:20

St. Modwen Properties said it has had a strong performance since the start of the financial with profits and cashflows in line with expectations. The UK regeneration specialist has experienced a growing pipeline of development opportunities since reporting its full-year results, according to a trading update on Friday.The group has secured a "steady stream" of sales across all of the St. Modwen Homes and the Persimmon joint venture sites, particularly into the Spring selling season.The company has completed on the sale of 180 units in the financial year to date which compares to 35 units during the same period last year. The market for residential land also remains buoyant, with strong demand from housebuilders looking to increase their sales outlets.Results have been driven by improving consumer confidence and the support of the government's Help to Buy scheme, which was recently extended until 2020.The firm has also seen improvements in the commercial market with high occupancy leveal and an increase in enquires across sites,St. Modwen's has had sustained growth in London, the South West and in the Midlands and expects this to continue throughout the year. In February the company launched an offering of £100m of unsecured guaranteed convertible bonds due 2019, which will be used to strengthen the balance sheet.Chief Executive Bill Oliver said: "Following a strong set of full year results, we are already enjoying a good start to the year. This has been further supported by our successful convertible bond offering, which demonstrates a growing confidence amongst our existing and new investors.""As the year progresses, we expect the ongoing improvement in the residential and commercial markets to continue. And, having further strengthened our balance sheet, we are very well placed to drive further growth of the business, using our considerable in-house expertise to bring forward high-quality development land, both for sale and for development ourselves."RD