Thg Share News (THG)

Property developer Terrace Hill slashed debts as it sold off most of its residential assets in the first half of the year to begin a new focus on developing stores for major supermarket groups.The AIM group saw triple net asset value (TNAV) increase 4.6% to 28.1p by the end of the six months to 31st March, having sold 919 units of its residential assets for £70.8m, largely completing the sale of its residential portfolio.The sales meant Terrace Hill made significant progress on strategy of reducing the its level of debt and gearing, slashing net debt by £36.8m to £10.4m during to bring gearing down to 16.8% from 78.2% at September 30th 2012.Chairman Robert Adair said: "The first half of the year has been transformational for Terrace Hill both in terms of significantly improving the group's financial position and in the delivery of a very solid operational performance." The group built three new foodstores in Sunderland, Sedgefield and Skelton that it pre-let to Sainsbury and Asda for a total capital value of £64.6m and noted that another four "substantial" supermarkets were in the planning process and other opportunities in the pipeline.On this, Chief Executive Philip Leech said: "We are now undoubtedly one of the market leaders of foodstore developments in the UK, with an impressive track record of completed schemes and a strong pipeline of sites in planning or under review." The company has been active in other sectors, having recently completed construction of a central London office and residential development, with a further project in Mayfair due to start in the summer, with a Darlington leisure complex expected later this year, and a forward funding agreement made for a large student accommodation scheme in Southampton that has already been pre-let and forward sold.Shares in Terrace Hill Group were down 5.2% at 20.5p at 14:00 on Wednesday.OH