U+I makes good development progress as capital values slip

Specialist regeneration developer and investor U+I Group issued its interim results for the six months ended 31 August on Wednesday, claiming it was on track to deliver its target of between £45m and £50m of development and trading gains in the 2019 financial year.

The London-listed firm said it delivered £12.8m of gains delivered in the first half, which was in line with its targets.

Further progress was also post period end, including a resolution to grant planning permission at its Kensington Church Street project.

U+I said it had “good visibility” on the projects that would deliver gains in the second half, including Preston Barracks, Harwell, Curzon Park and Hendy Wind Farm.

The board said it made “continued progress” against its stated 2019 financial year key objectives, as its pipeline continued to grow with the Cambridge Northern Fringe East win, exclusive negotiations on a new public-private partnership project in the London City Region, and three new trading opportunities under offer.

Its investment portfolio repositioning also continued with an £11.3m acquisition, £0.7m secured and £2.8m under offer towards the board’s target of £5m added value through asset management initiatives.

Capital values in the first half were down 2.6% on a like-for-like basis, including joint ventures, which the firm said was primarily due to negative sentiment in the retail sector.

Advisors were appointed in the period to identify capital partners to fund three major pipeline projects.

The board declared an interim dividend of 2.4p per share , in line with the 2.4p paid last year, which was consistent with U+I’s previously-stated policy.

“We have made good progress in the first six months of the year, realising £12.8m of development and trading gains in the period to 31 August, in line with our first half target,” said chief executive officer Matthew Weiner.

“We are confident that we have the strategy, team and pipeline to meet our £45m-to-£50m development and trading target for the full year, and we remain well-placed to benefit from the shortfall of quality mixed-use schemes, which continue to drive strong demand in our key, high-growth, geographies of London City Region, Manchester and Dublin.”

Weiner said the company was seeing a growing number of opportunities to deliver value through its public private partnerships, trading and investment activities, as evidenced by its Cambridge win, exclusive negotiations for a new PPP project, three new trading projects under offer, and its acquisition in Bournemouth.

“We are committed to delivering value for both our investors and the communities in which we work through our purpose driven performance and look forward to demonstrating this over the next six months and beyond.”