| CATEGORY: NEWS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS SECTOR: PROPERTY |
London Merchant in red but sees improvement |
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Mon 23 May 2005
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LONDON (SHARECAST) - Costs of reorganising its debt pushed property and venture capital group London Merchant Securities into the red last year, though its underlying profit picked up and things are improving for its investment business it says.
Before the debt restructuring charges, profits rose from £17.2m to £35.3m as the company realised £66.2m from the sale of investments, giving rise to a profit of £17.9m.
Underlying operating profit rose to £42.7m from £39.8m, though there was a pre-tax loss for the year of £12.9m after a £48m charge for its debt re-jigging.
Chairman Graham Greene was optimistic about the future. "The outlook for the investment division continues to improve, and we are confident of a steady stream of profitable realisations over the next two to three years," he said. The group is also on the look out for more property acquisitions, he added.
Net assets at the end of March were 223p compared with 217p at the end of last year. The dividend for the year is 6.5p compared with 6.4p.
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