(Alliance News) - Daejan Holdings PLC on Wednesday said it swung to a loss in the first half of its financial year, suffering sizeable net valuation losses on its investment property during the period.
For the six months ended September 30, the property firm's pretax loss was GBP18.3 million, swinging from a GBP61.1 million profit the year before.
This was the result of a swing to GBP42.3 million of net valuation losses on investment property versus gains of GBP32.5 million the year prior. This was caused by new rent regulations in the US which hurt the value of its properties in the state of New York.
Total rental & related income from investment property rose 12% to GBP83.0 million from GBP74.0 million year-on-year.
No dividends were paid in the period, the same as the year before, but Daejan is planning to pay a 35 pence per share interim dividend on March 6, 2020.
Chair Benzion Freshwater said: "Until there is greater clarity on the timing and terms of the UK's departure from the EU and the outcome of the UK general election in December, the high levels of political and economic uncertainty in the UK are expected to continue. The economic outlook for the USA remains more promising.
"The principal risk factors affecting the remainder of the financial year continue to be exposure to movements in the valuation of the group's investment properties, movements in the sterling/dollar exchange rate, incidence of voids and bad debts and adverse changes to the regulatory environment."
Shares in Daejan were flat on Wednesday morning at 5,110.00p.
By Anna Farley; annafarley@alliancenews.com
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