(Alliance News) - Highcroft Investments PLC on Monday reported a slip in net assets in the first half but said it was "pleased" with its performance and hiked its interim dividend as a sign of its confidence in the business.
At June 30, the real estate investment trust company's NAV per share stood at 1,195 pence, down 1.0% from the 1,207p seen at the end of 2018. Compared to a year ago, however, Highcroft's NAV per share is 0.7% higher.
Highcroft's property portfolio valuation increased 14% to GBP88.8 million from GBP77.7 million at December 31. Highcroft made a net investment of GBP11.9 million into its portfolio compared to a GBP2.5 million divestment the year before.
The company saw net rental income of GBP2.7 million in the period, 13% higher than the GBP2.4 million reported the year before.
Highcroft's portfolio had a loan to value of 29.5% at June 30, ahead of the 25.0% seen at December 31 and 25.6% a year ago.
"I am pleased to report continued good trading results for the 6 months ended June 30. The board is happy with the progress of its ongoing strategy of developing a high-quality income-producing property portfolio, based on carefully sourced quality assets and tenants producing stable, secure income," said Chair Charles Butler.
Butler continued: "This strategy has resulted in property income growth of 13%. Whilst our total property valuation increased by 14% after the acquisition of two new properties, our like-for-like property valuation fell slightly in the period. This was due to the current market sentiment, particularly in our retail assets, but also the costs associated with our two acquisitions in the period."
The retail investor upped its interim dividend by 12% to 21.0p compared to the 18.75p distributed the year before.
Butler added: "Whilst the ongoing property investment environment, in particular the retail sector, is likely to remain challenging for the remainder of the year, we believe that our asset selection criteria have helped to ensure that our current portfolio and tenant mix create a strong base from which to continue to develop our business and generate further shareholder value."
Shares in Highcroft Investments were 1.6% higher in London on Monday at 929.70 pence each.