Member Info for jange

During the course of the year the company raised £325.9m before expenses through share issues. "Opportunities in the UK secondary market for PFI [private finance initiative] assets remain good," claimed Graham Picken, HICL Infrastructure's Chairman. "We welcomed the UK government's new Infrastructure Plan and, although there is detail to be worked through, it is clear that the private sector has a crucial part to play in funding and managing the next generation of infrastructure projects," Picken adde

On a consolidated international financial reporting standards (IFRS) basis, the group had net debt of £1,473.3m at March 31st 2012 (31 March 2011: £532.8m). This increase in net debt over the year reflects the nine new subsidiaries formed arising from the various acquisitions in the year. Cash received from the portfolio by way of distributions, capital repayments and fees was £51.2m (2011: £45.6m). After group costs, net cash inflows of £41.0m adequately covered the distributions paid in the year, the group said, adding that the growth in cash generated was in line with its projections.

Profit before tax and valuation movements was £33.2m, versus £24.3m a year earlier. The company increased the fair value - what it considers the current market value - of its investments by £28.8m this time round, having booked a £20.9m fair value uplift the year before. Total profit before tax on an investment basis therefore increased to £62.0m from £45.2m the previous year. After a minimal tax payment of £0.1m both this year and last that shifted earnings up to £61.9m versus £45.1m the year before. Earnings per share, on an investment basis, rose to 9.8p from 8.9p the year before.

Total revenue in the year to March 31st on an investment basis was £48.1m, up from £37.4m the year before. Capital appreciation added a £24m boost, up from the previous year's capital gain of £18.8m, taking total revenue up to £72.1m from £56.2m the year before.

Net asset value (NAV) per share after the dividend distribution stood at 112.8p at the end of March, up 2.8% on a NAV per share of 109.7m at the end of March 2011. The group announced a second interim dividend of 3.5p, making the total pay-out for the year 6.85p, up 2.2% on the previous year. The company is targeting a payment of 7.0p per share for the current financial year.

Infrastructure projects investor HICL said the value of its portfolio increased by just over a third in the year to the end of march. The directors' valuation of the portfolio at the end of March stood at £902.0m, up 34% from the £673.1m valuation a year earlier. The company as a whole has a stock market valuation (as at May 22nd) of around £1,040m.

"While occupational demand remains at around the long-term average, current availability of new space is considerably below the average and the resultant forecast supply crunch suggests that rental growth prospects are favourable in the medium term," he said.

Chief Executive Toby Courtauld said the investment market continued to benefit from significant excess of demand for assets over supply, with the appetite from overseas investors at high levels.

The firm recorded rental value growth of 7.8% on a like-for-like basis and pushed up its dividend slightly to 8.4p per share. However, the firm's profits were hit by development and refurbishment costs, which pushed adjusted pre-tax profits down 65% to £17.4m.

Property firm Great Portland Estates said London had continued to attract a significant flow of investment capital from around the world, resulting in a record leasing year. Net assets per share at the end of March was 403p per share, an increase of 11.9% over the year, largely due to the rise in value of the company's property portfolio.

Meanwhile, licensing revenues are expected to be flat this year, as growth in global product licenses is offset by the planned termination and downsizing of Japanese non-apparel licences.

The firm said that the phasing of revenue and investment is expected to lead to lower operating margins in retail and wholesale in the first half of this year (ending September 2012). For the full year 2012/13 though, it expects "modest improvement" in margin.

REINVESTING FOR THE FUTURE A net 15 mainline stores are planned for the current year and capital expenditure should increase from £153m to £180-200m as retail space is expected to grow by 12-14%. Analysts at brokerage Nomura said this morning that it would maintain its current-year forecasts following the statement and reiterated its buy recommendation for the stock. "Strong returns and pricing power give [Burberry the] confidence to accelerate investment," they said.

The full-year dividend was raised from 20p to 25p, slightly ahead of the 24.58p consensus estimate. "While we remain vigilant about the external environment, we will continue to invest in front-end opportunities within our brand, digital and retail strategies, to drive sustained, profitable growth and enduring customer engagement over the long term," said Chief Executive Officer Angela Ahrendts.

Within retail, all regions and product divisions showed double-digit growth during the year with total retail revenues rising 32% to £1,270.3m. However, as previously indicated, like-for-like growth (comparable store sales) slowed from 16% in the first half to 12% in the second, resulting in a 14% increase year-on-year. Burberry opened 23 mainline stores - including the first flagship stores in Hong Kong, Paris and Taipei - and 25 concessions during the 2011/12 year, closing 10 and 16, respectivel

Despite the strong growth reported, the stock was under heavy selling on Wednesday. Analysts at Investec said that due to the in-line figures, "the lack of upgrades may see bears take issue today". By 09:44, shares were down 3.61% at 1,336p.

Revenue figures for the second half were already disclosed in the pre-close trading update last month and so won't come as much surprise to the market. Sales totalled £1,857m, up 24% from £1,501m the year before. Underlying growth, calculated at constant exchange rates, was 23%.

Iconic British luxury brand Burberry reported solid and balanced growth in the year ended March 31st, with profits coming in marginally ahead of expectations. Adjusted profit before tax (which excludes restructuring costs and other items) increased by 26% from £298m to £376m, slightly ahead of consensus forecasts of £374.7m. Meanwhile, the retail/wholesale operating margin improved by 80 basis points to 16.4%.

Shares in BATs were down 31.5p at 3,018p in mid-morning trade.

The Advocate General's opinion in that reference is due on June 28th 2012. It is not known when the judgement of the court will follow. Once the ECJ judgement is delivered the matter will then revert to the UK courts.