St. Modwen solid despite uncertain market

Property developer St. Modwen Properties said while the outlook for commercial property remains uncertain, trading at the group is not deteriorating. St. Modwen said it has made significant progress in all areas of the business, following its return to profit at the half year stage. "Our traditional strengths of a diverse hopper and real hands-on active management are helping us to successfully combat weaknesses in the occupier market," the group explained.In the year to date the group completed over 200 new lettings and renewals of almost a million sq ft of space.The property developer said it had seen an upturn in the number of design and build enquiries for future development projects.Projects in the pipeline include a joint venture with Persimmon to develop 2,000 homes on seven sites, a £270m Taunton development and it has also secured planning for a 650 home scheme at South Ockendon.The group also saw a strong performance on asset management: "Not only has it enabled us to maintain occupancy and rental levels but, together with our expectation of marshalling gains from within the hopper, gives us confidence in the out turn for the year," it said in company statement.