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LONDON (Alliance News) - Commercial property investor Palace Capital PLC on Monday said pretax profit dipped in the financial year to the end of March due to a lower valuation gain on its portfolio, but rental income surged as it continued its expansion.
Palace said its pretax profit for the year to March 31 was GBP11.8 million, down from GBP13.9 million the year earlier. The decline was entirely due to the company booking a GBP3.6 million gain on its property portfolio which was down from GBP9.8 million a year earlier.
Net rental income for the group grew to GBP13.0 million from GBP7.4 million the year earlier, as Palace made five acquisitions for a total of GBP66.0 million over the year. This included the Broad Street Plaza project in Halifax and the Sol Central development in Northampton.
Palace said its net asset value per share grew 5.0% over the course of the year to 414 pence, from 396p a year before.
The company said it will pay a final dividend of 9.0p, meaning it total payout will rise to 16p from 13p a year earlier.
"This has been a particularly exciting year for us, and we are delighted with the progress that we are making. Our property portfolio has been strengthened by the acquisition of first class assets in growth locations as our active asset management strategy continues to grow both our rental income and capital values," said Chief Executive Neil Sinclair.
"We are confident that our ability to source off market opportunities and our active asset management strategy will enable us to fulfil our progressive dividend policy for the benefit of shareholders in the medium term," he added.
By Sam Unsted; samunsted@alliancenews.com; @SamUAtAlliance
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