First Property Regulatory News (FPO)

30 Nov 2009 07:00



Date: 30 November 2009

On behalf of: First Property Group plc ("First Property" or "the Group")

Embargoed: 0700hrs 

First Property Group plc

Interim Results for the six months to 30 September 2009

First Property Group plc (AIM: FPO), the AIM-listed property services group specialising in commercial property fund management, today announces its interim results for the six months to 30 September 2009.

Financial Highlights:

Operational Highlights:

Continued strategic emphasis to grow fund management division:

Progress is being made to establish a new UK commercial property fund - commitments for in excess of £50 million of equity, subject to contract, from a group of pension schemes for a new UK commercial property fund.

Marketing is commencing to raise a new CEE commercial property fund, a region in which our funds under management ranked as the top performing over the three years to 31 December 2008, as measured against the IPD CEE Benchmark.

At the period end the Group had £296 million in assets under management (AUM), of which £281 million is property in Central and Eastern Europe ("CEE"), representing 95% of the total portfolio. This ratio is likely to shift towards the UK in coming months following recent purchases in the UK and particularly if the new UK fund, which is referred to above, is raised. 

The annualised pre-tax return on equity being earned from our existing assets under management on behalf of clients in CEE is running at in excess of 20% per annum of the equity that was deployed to acquire them. 

The property trading division acquired control of the management company responsible for its office tower in Warsaw's Central Business District ("CBD") in which the Group owns a 28% stake, and in which previously no single shareholder had control. 

The Group appointed Mr. Peter Moon, outgoing Chief Investment Officer of Universities Superannuation Scheme, as a Non-Executive Director, effective 1st May 2010.

A briefing for analysts will be held at 09:30hrs today at Redleaf Communications Ltd, 11-33 St.John Street, London, EC1M, 4AA

Commenting on the results, Ben Habib, Chief Executive of First Property, said, 

"This has been a robust interim period for the Group. Despite the combined headwinds of falling asset values (against which our fund management fee income is derived), reduced interest income on our cash, and a general economic slowdown in the UK which has affected our facilities management subsidiary, our earnings per share is down by only 1.9%. At the same time our costs have increased marginally, as we have been investing for the next phase of our growth. We are making progress in this endeavour, the most tangible result thus far being commitments for in excess of £50 million of equity, subject to contract, from a group of pension schemes for a new UK commercial property fund.

The outlook is promising. We have a strong balance sheet and a stable earnings platform of recurring revenues. Our primary focus is now to exploit this position of strength to grow our assets under management within our core division, First Property Asset Management Ltd. Our good track record should be of considerable help in this regard.

I am also delighted to welcome Mr. Peter Moon to our board. Peter was Chief Investment Officer of the Universities Superannuation Scheme until his retirement this year. He brings with him a wealth of knowledge in both the public companies arena and pension fund industry."

For further information contact:

Publication quality photos are available from Redleaf Communications

Notes to editors

• First Property Group plc was established in March 2000 by Chief Executive Ben Habib.

• The Company listed its shares on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) in December 2000.

• First Property Group plc is a property services group which provides the following core services:

- Property Fund Management - established in August 2002 and provided by a wholly owned subsidiary, First Property Asset Management Ltd (FPAM), now with operations in the UK, Central and Eastern Europe;

- Property Trading - established in August 2001 also provided by FPAM, now with operations in the UK, Central and Eastern Europe;

- Facilities Management - acquired 60% of First Property Services Ltd in February 2006, an air conditioning installation and maintenance contractor.

• Further information about the Company and its products can be found at: www.fprop.com

CHIEF EXECUTIVE'S STATEMENT

Financial Results 

I am pleased to report interim results for the six months to 30 September 2009. 

Revenue during the period amounted to £4,798,000 (2008: £4,736,000), yielding a decreased profit on ordinary activities before taxation of £1,555,000 (2008: £1,774,000). 

Diluted earnings per ordinary share were 1.06 pence (2008: 1.08 pence). 

The Group ended the period with net assets of £14.4 million (2008: £12.9 million) and a cash balance of £9.5m (2008: £11.2m). The reduction of our cash balance is largely due to the acquisition of an office building in Warsaw in December 2008, to which I refer later in this statement, and which utilised $2.4 million (£1.6 million at the time of purchase) of our equity.

This is a creditable performance given not only the headwinds facing the property markets but also the reduced interest income on our cash balances and the general economic slowdown which has affected our facilities management division. 

We are delighted to be able to report the appointment of Mr. Peter Moon, outgoing Chief Investment Officer of Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS), to our Board as a Non-Executive Director with effect from 1st May 2010. We regard his acceptance of the appointment as affirmation that our core division, First Property Asset Management, has performed well thus far with its mandate to manage funds on behalf of USS, and a sign of confidence in our abilities. This appointment also reflects the growing maturity of the Group, as we broaden and consolidate our earnings platform. We look forward to drawing on Peter's wisdom and deep knowledge, in particular of the pension funds market, our target investor client market for our core division, First Property Asset Management.

Dividend

On the basis of these results, our strong balance sheet, and the outlook for the future, the Board has recommended an increased interim dividend of 0.31 pence per share (2008: 0.30 pence per share) which will be paid on 21 December 2009 to shareholders on the register at 11 December 2009. 

Review of operations

Property fund management (First Property Asset Management Limited) 

Revenue earned by this division amounted to £1,949,000 (2008: £1,948,000) generating an operating profit of £1,555,000. This represents 75% of Group operating profit (2008: 76%) prior to the deduction of unallocated central (PLC) costs.

At 30th September assets under management (AUM) within the fund management division stood at £296 million (2008: £290 million). These funds are managed within fixed life closed ended funds. The largest of these funds, Fund 7, which we manage on behalf of USS and which accounts for 93% of our funds under management at the period end, was awarded as a ten year contract in 2005. 

We completed one acquisition, a warehouse in Poland costing €22 million, during the period. We won no new funds to manage, and made no disposals. We still have some £43 million of equity available to be drawn down by Fund 7. No fees are receivable on un-drawn equity.

The like for like aggregate value of properties held by our funds has reduced by some 18% in Euro terms and 4.5% in Sterling terms for the 12 months to 30 September 2009. However, total AUM have increased by 2.1% due to the purchase of the warehouse in Poland. It is worth noting that, notwithstanding these downward revaluations, the rental income of our AUM is generating an annualised rate of return of more than 20% per annum on the original equity deployed to acquire the portfolio.

When we announced our results in June for the year ended 31st March 2009, we signalled our planned return to the UK property market, having largely exited the market in 2005 due to concerns over the inflated values being ascribed to properties. In October 2009, after the period end, we exchanged contracts to acquire two UK properties, on behalf of Fund 7, for a combined value of some £10m and we have a third UK property under offer for some £3.5m, also for Fund 7. 

In that final results statement I also indicated that we were considering the launch of a new fund to invest in UK commercial property, following the marked reduction in the value of UK commercial property. We have since then been in due diligence with a group of pension schemes and lawyers have now been instructed to draw up contractual documentation for such a fund. These documents are still subject to negotiation and it would be premature to conclude that such a fund will certainly be raised, but considerable progress has been made. The size of the fund is still to be finalised but we have indications of interest in excess of £50 million of equity. If we are successful in raising this fund it will be a significant step towards diversifying the Group's earnings and client base. 

In CEE, where our funds were ranked as the top performing funds over the three years to 31 December 2008, as measured against the IPD CEE Benchmark, we are nearing the end of our available equity to be invested. We are optimistic about the growth outlook there, particularly in our favoured market, Poland, and are therefore commencing the process of raising a new CEE (Polish) fund. Such a fund raising process typically takes several months to complete but in the intervening period it is our intention to exploit attractive investment opportunities that we come across by entering into joint ventures (JV's) with funding partners, using part of the £9.5 million of the Group's cash as our (minority) equity contribution. We are confident that we have access to third party equity funding for the right purchases. Indeed we have agreed JV terms on two occasions this year with third party equity providers, in order to complete transactions that fell outside of our fund mandates (although on both occasions the transactions failed to complete for reasons unrelated to equity funding or the properties themselves).

The geographic split of our funds under management at the period end was 90% in Poland, 5% in Romania, and 5% in UK. We expect these weightings to shift in favour of the UK in the coming months given our recent purchases in the UK and particularly in the event that we are successful in raising our new UK fund.

Property trading 

Revenue from this activity was £884,000 (2008: £457,000), producing an operating profit of £397,000 (2008: £157,000). This represents 19% of Group operating profit prior to the deduction of unallocated central (PLC) costs (2008: 7%).

We hold two assets directly within this division, both of which are held at the lower of cost or valuation for accounting purposes. We have not had these properties externally revalued recently but are confident that their valuation comfortably exceeds cost, being the level at which we hold them for accounting purposes. They generated a rental income of £801,000 within the period, an annualised pre-tax return on equity deployed of 17% per annum. 

Both assets are located in Warsaw and were purchased as special situations with the aim of utilising our in house asset management expertise to unlock capital value, whilst providing a high rate of running return in the intervening period.

The first asset is a Class C office building within a residential suburb of Warsaw which we acquired in November 2007 for £2.6 million and which has no borrowings secured against it. Our business plan is to achieve planning consent for change of use to residential and then either develop it ourselves, or sell to a developer. We have commenced the planning process and expect to have a decision within the second half of the year, although this process has taken longer than we first envisaged and is unpredictable. In the meantime the asset is earning us an 11.3% yield on cost.

The second asset is a Class B office building, located in the centre of Warsaw's central business district (CBD), in which we acquired a 28% interest in December 2008 for USD 13.0 million, and against which we have secured a non-recourse loan of USD 10.6 million. The pre-tax return on equity deployed is some 28% per annum. The building and its management company were owned by a number of different owners with no single owner exercising control, resulting in an inefficient and costly management service. One of our aims at the time of purchase was to consolidate the shareholdings in the management company under our control in order to maximise the value of our interest in the building. We achieved this earlier this month at a purchase cost of PLN 1.1 million, or some £250,000. We expect to increase our earnings from this investment by at least £150,000 per annum once we have reduced the costs of the management company.

In addition to the two properties held directly within this division we also own a 41% stake in two of our funds, Fund 5 and Fund 6. These produced post tax profits in the period of £120,000 (2008: £76,000). These are both geared funds and so the 58% jump in post tax profits can be attributed to reductions in interest rates. We hold these shares at original cost plus their share of accumulated profits. At the period end the carried valuation was £551,000. Due to IFRS we are required to report this at the Group level as "share of associate's net assets" but refer to it in this Property Trading segment because we regard all earnings derived from investments (excluding cash) to be a trading activity.

First Property Services Ltd ("FPS")

Revenue earned by this subsidiary, in which we own a 60% share, was £1,915,000 (2008: £2,276,000),  generating a pre-tax profit of £104,000 (2008: £354,000) which represents 5% of Group operating profit prior to the deduction of unallocated central (PLC) costs (2008: 16%).

FPS is engaged in the provision of specialty facilities maintenance to clients in the commercial property sector, predominantly the installation of air conditioning units. Revenue from ongoing maintenance contracts has been steady at some £0.5 million per annum. However, sales of new installation contracts, which typically take a few months to complete, are not contractually recurring, and the reduction in profit is as a result of reduced sales from this activity. In view of the adverse economic climate in the UK, this is not surprising. 

The second half performance of this company is also likely to yield a reduced profit compared to last year, though we do expect it to remain profitable. 

Commercial property markets outlook

Widespread fire sales in the property market, in the wake of the credit crunch, have failed to materialise. The coordinated global programme of loose monetary policy has resulted in many would be forced sellers being able to hold on to their assets, with the banks choosing to overlook the fact that many may be in breach of loan to value covenants as a result of asset price falls. Consequently transactional activity has been low. This may yet change and there are indications that banks may now be beginning to sell properties, but not at fire sale prices. 

In the last few months investor demand for well let commercial property has been building, particularly in the UK but now spreading eastwards across Europe, as a result of limited stock and a desire to lock into higher returns than cash can offer. This demand is polarised towards properties with good quality covenants and long lease lengths. 

Despite this picture of limited supply and building investor demand, asset prices are still off by about one third from their peak, and more importantly are showing a sufficient spread over the cost of finance to make acquisitions attractive. 

We favour both the UK and Polish property investment markets, but for differing reasons.

In the UK we believe that pricing has fallen sufficiently to compensate for further anticipated rent reductions. The occupier market is still weak though, as is the state of the economy, so consequently, like much of our competition, our acquisition focus is on good quality covenants with long unexpired leases. 

In Poland, which is the only EU member country to have thus far avoided recession, and where there are lower levels of personal and state indebtedness, the economic outlook is brighter. The widespread shunning by investors of CEE markets, as experienced after the collapse of Lehman Brothers, would appear to have abated and investors are now differentiating between Poland and other CEE markets. The PLN/ Euro exchange rate, which is key for property investors because rents are largely Euro denominated, appears to have stabilised within a range of PLN/ Euro of 4.1 to PLN 4.25, up from its low of PLN/ Euro 4.95, which should materially reduce the stress on tenants. 

The value of commercial properties in Poland has dropped over the last year by some 20% since its peak level in 2008. There are now signs that this is stabilising with an increase in transactions and bank lending, albeit from a very low level. As global growth returns, we expect Poland's economy to benefit and for rents to begin to rise, with a commensurate increase in the value of properties. 

Current trading and prospects

I am happy with our performance in the first half of the year and I believe this pause in earnings growth to be temporary. The Group has achieved several milestones in the period which should translate into resumed earnings growth in the next financial year.

We have a strong balance sheet and a stable earnings platform of recurring revenues. Our primary focus remains to exploit this position of strength and to grow our AUM within our core division, First Property Asset Management. Our good track record should be of considerable help in this regard.

Ben Habib

Chief Executive

30 November 2009

CONSOLIDATED INCOME STATEMENT

for the six months to 30 September 2009

  CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEET

as at 30 September 2009

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN EQUITY 

for the period ended 30 September 2009

* Foreign exchange translation reserve

SUMMARISED CONSOLIDATED CASH FLOW STATEMENT

for the six months to 30 September 2009

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED RESULTS

for the six months ended 30 September 2009

1. Basis of preparation 

These half year financial statements have not been audited and do not constitute statutory accounts within the meaning of section 434 of the Companies Act 2006. They have been prepared in accordance with the Group's accounting policies as set out in the Group's latest annual financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2009 and are in compliance with IFRS 34 "Interim Financial Reporting". These accounting policies are drawn up in accordance with International Accounting Standards (IAS) and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board and as adopted by the European Union (EU). 

The comparative figures for the financial year ended 31 March 2009 are not the statutory accounts for the financial year but are abridged from those accounts prepared under IFRS which have been reported on by the Group's auditors and delivered to the Registrar of Companies. The report of the auditors was unqualified, did not include references to any matter to which the auditors drew attention by way of emphasis without qualifying their report and did not contain a statement under section 237 (2) or (3) of the Companies Act 1985.

These interim financial statements were approved by the Board of Directors on 27th November 2009.

2. Revenue consists of revenue arising in the United Kingdom 57% (2008: 57%) and Central and Eastern Europe 43% (2008: 43%) and all relates solely to the Group's principal activities.

3. Segmental Analysis  

Segment Reporting 6 months to 30 September 2009

  Segment Reporting 6 months to 30 September 2008

Segment Reporting 12 months to 31 March 2009

Interest income and interest expense are not allocated to a separate segment because all cash is managed centrally. Head office costs and overheads that are common to all segments are shown separately under unallocated central costs. Assets, liabilities and costs that relate to Group central activities have not been allocated to business segments. 

4. The tax charge is based on a combination of actual current tax charged and an effective rate that is expected to apply to the profits for the full year.

5. Earnings per Ordinary 1p share

The basic earnings per ordinary share is calculated on the profit on ordinary activities after taxation and after minority interest on the weighted average number of ordinary shares in issue, during the period. 

Figures in the table below have been used in the calculations. 

6. Investments - Share of associates' net assets

7. Trade and other receivables 

8. Trade and other payables

9. The interim results are being circulated to all shareholders and can be downloaded from the company's web site (www.fprop.com). Further copies can be obtained from the registered office at 17 Quayside Lodge, William Morris Way, London SW6 2UZ.