24 September 2019 – final results
The Leeds-based property group has announced its results for the year to 30 June and these have seen EPRA pre-tax profit fall to £6.4m (2018: £6.9m) due to the effect of retail CVA’s during the period. Earnings per share on the same basis fell to 12.0p (13.0p) although the company maintained its dividend at 11.75p per share. This means that the company has now held or improved its dividend each year for the last 59 years. The group’s net asset value per share at the year end fell to 354p from 384p the year before and so it can be seen that the shares stand at a significant discount to this. The group’s overall occupancy level is 96% and it has reduced its exposure to retail and leisure to under 50% of the portfolio from over 70% three years ago. The loan to asset ratio is now under 50% and with a conservative management team we rate the shares a BUY.
