Picton nearly doubles first half profits

Guernsey-based investment firm Picton Property Income almost doubled its profit after tax in the first half of its trading year, increasing its net asset value 5% in the process.

Picton increased its profit after tax to £30.7m in the six months leading to 30 September, a 95% increase on the £15.7m it posted a year earlier.

The firm generated earnings of 5.7p per ordinary share over the period as net assets rose £22m to £464m at the end of the period, creating a total return of 7.1% for the half.

During the period, Picton drewdown £12.5m from its two credit facilities, partly to fund the £23.2m acquisition of its new Bristol asset, Tower Wharf, and extended the maturity date of one of those revolving credit lines from 2018 to 2021.

Picton paid dividends of £9.2m, or 1.7% per share, to shareholders during the half and, on Tuesday, announced an increase of 3% to 3.5p per share to its annual dividend.

Michael Morris, chief executive of Picton Capital, said, "Strong performance from the industrial and logistics sector in particular, contributed to NAV growth, along with the disposal of two non-core assets."

"With our recent Bristol acquisition there is £6 million of reversionary potential in the portfolio and we believe that capturing this is key to driving income and valuation growth in the short to medium term," he added.

As of 1130 GMT, shares had gained 0.87% to 86.75p.