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LONDON (Alliance News) - Palace Capital PLC on Monday hiked its interim dividend by 29%, citing increased activity in the towns and cities in which it operates.
The commercial property investment company, which is focused mainly outside London, said its net asset value per share rose 1.2% over its first half ended September 30 to 419.00 pence from 414.00p at the end of March.
The group said its portfolio valuation rose to GBP184.8 million from GBP174.5 million, though this was not as large an increase as in the prior year.
Palace reported a decline in net rental income for the period to GBP5.9 million from GBP7.5 million the prior year. However, the prior year had benefited from a one-off surrender premium of GBP3.0 million received from Gala Casinos Ltd, and stripping this out, net rental income had risen from GBP4.5 million.
As such, pretax profit slipped to GBP3.9 million from GBP7.6 million, but Palace lifted its interim dividend to 9.00 pence per share from 7.00p per share the prior year.
Palace said it had not seen a negative impact on its portfolio from the EU referendum outcome, which it said "appears to be a London-focused issue", instead reporting "increased activity" in the towns and cities in which it operates, including Manchester and York.
"We are making headway on several of our strategic assets and with our policy of sourcing opportunities both directly and corporately, I continue to be very optimistic about our future," said Chairman Stanley Davis.
Shares in Palace were up 2.8% at 370.00p on Monday.
By Hannah Boland; hannahboland@alliancenews.com; @Hannaheboland
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