Derwent London makes 'considerable progress' in 2019
Property investment and development firm Derwent London made "considerable progress" in 2019, with significant pre-letting success, the commencement of its most active development programme so far and the recycling of capital through property disposals above book value.
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Derwent said on Tuesday it had recorded a total annual return for the group of 6.6%, with the main contribution coming from a revaluation surplus of £156.4m, representing an increase of 3.9% on the underlying portfolio.
As a result, the FTSE 250-listed firm said IFRS earnings rose 27.5% to £283.4m and its EPRA net asset value per share rose 4.8% to 3,958p. On an underlying basis, earnings increased by 4.3% to £115.1m or 103.1p per share.
Derwent London also pointed out that its share price had "increased sharply" in the second half and the discount to its year-end net asset value reversed to "a modest premium", which led to a total shareholder return for 2019 of 43.6%.
With the rise in underlying earnings and the de-risking of a significant proportion of its on-site development programme, Derwent proposed raising its final dividend by 10.1% to 51.45p per share, taking its 2019 full-year payout to 72.45p - an increase of 10%.
Chief executive Paul Williams said: "It has been another successful year for the group, and we start 2020 in a strong position.
"Due to our pre-letting successes and our positive market outlook, we aim to bring forward further projects, including our next major development at 19-35 Baker Street W1."
Derwent also announced it was bringing its net zero carbon building target forward by 20 years to 2030.
Williams said Derwent's future business vision involved purchasing brown buildings and converting them into green ones.
As of 0830 GMT, Derwent shares were up 1.33% at 4,280p.