LONDON (Alliance News) - LXB Retail Properties PLC on Tuesday said its net asset value per share fell in its most recent financial year as it continued the process of winding down and disposing of assets.
Shares in LXB Retail Properties were down 24% at 4.11 pence on Tuesday morning.
The real estate investor's net asset value per share on September 30, the end of its financial year, was 11.12 pence. This is a fraction of its net asset value of 29.52p per share the year before.
Its total assets were reduced to GBP29.7 million from GBP95.1 million. Of this, investment properties held for sale shrank to only GBP6.3 million from GBP54.2 million after GBP48.5 million worth of disposals.
In its year, the company sold its Riverside scheme and its leisure investment in Stratford. It also disposed of the final phase of Neats Court Retail Park in Sheppey and sold its remaining land interests in Rushden.
Post year-end, LXB Retail Properties sold its ground floor units in Sutton and also sold Higher Newham Farm in Truro, its last investment property asset.
LXB Retail Properties returned GBP12.6 million of cash to shareholders in August and GBP6.7 million in September. Post financial year-end it announced plans to return GBP10.1 million in December and GBP5.1 million on Wednesday last week.
This GBP5.1 million equates to 3p per share and will be the final cash distribution before its dissolution.
"The total cash returned to shareholders during the life of the group will, following the 3p return referred to above, be 121.5p per share and we estimate that the final return of capital will now be approximately 2p per share," said LXB Retail Properties Chair Phil Wrigley.
"It has been an extremely challenging task to fulfil our mandate to sell the assets of the group given the difficult investment and occupational markets for retail assets, however subject to shareholders ratifying the final arrangements, that task is now complete," Wrigley added.