LONDON (Alliance News) - London & Associated Properties PLC on Friday said its profit grew in the first-half of 2018, helped by its investment in Bisichi Mining PLC and its Brixton Markets disposal.
The stock was trading 9.3% higher on Friday morning at 28.96 pence per share.
The investment company said pretax profit surged to GBP3.7 million in the six months to the end of June from GBP23,000 reported for the same period a year earlier, as revenue jumped to GBP26.6 million from GBP20.2 million.
The company also managed to reduce its finance expenses to GBP2.0 million from GBP2.2 million posted a year before.
The results were mainly driven by trading improvements in mining company Bisichi Mining, in which London & Associated Properties hold a substantial interest.
In addition to that, the company's property activities were boosted significantly by the completion of the GBP37.3 million sale of its two Brixton markets in April.
The proceeds were used to repay GBP13.4 million of Banco Santander SA loan and GBP3.3 million of its Europa mezzanine loan.
As a result of selling Brixton Markets, London & Associated Properties' rental income dipped slightly to GBP3.2 million from GBP3.5 million in the first-half of 2017.
"In future, we will broaden our investment remit so that we do not rely entirely on retail property," said Chief Executive John Heller and Chairman Michael Heller.
"We are widening our search for new assets and, over time, we will pivot away from having the
majority of our portfolio comprised of retail assets," added the Hellers.
Bisichi (BISI)
London & Associated Properties (LAS)