GPOR.L Regulatory News (GPOR)

5 Jul 2007 11:30

Great Portland Estates PLC05 July 2007 5 July 2007 AGM Statement Richard Peskin, Chairman of Great Portland Estates plc, will make the followingcomments at today's AGM, to be held at Le Meridien, 21 Piccadilly, London, W1. "The year to 31 March 2007 proved to be another strong one for Great Portland,with returns at both the property and shareholder level continuing to build onlast year's excellent results, and well ahead of our principal benchmarks. Thegrowth in adjusted net assets per share of almost 36% was driven by a totalproperty return of more than 33%, compared to our central London benchmark ofless than 25%. We are optimistic about the Group's prospects. In the West End, where more than80% of our portfolio is located, occupational markets are robust; the supply ofnew office space is falling, demand is running ahead of the long term averageand, with a planning environment which acts as a major barrier to newdevelopment, we expect rents to continue to rise throughout this year. Acrossthe river in Southwark, where 7% of our portfolio is located, we are equallypositive as the relationship between the supply and demand of new office spacestrongly favours the landlord. In the context of these supportive market conditions, our large and growingdevelopment programme produced excellent returns. During the year, we completed4 projects generating an average profit on cost of 94%, or more than £70million, whilst the 5 schemes currently on site have grown in value by 45%, netof capital expenditure. Although we have a West End office market share of onlyapproximately 2%, during the first quarter of 2007 we were responsible foraround 9% of new office development which should, given the shortage of newoffice supply in this market, enable us to continue delivering strong returnsfrom this part of the Group. We have been working hard to build up our next pipeline of projects when thosein the near-term are complete. At the year end, our medium and long-termprogramme comprised 12 schemes of some 1.6 million sq ft. Since then, we havegrown this pipeline significantly by adding to our major site in Mayfair atHanover Square, where we expect to submit a planning application during the next12 months, and through the creation of a £500 million joint venture with Capital& Counties. London's investment markets remain as competitive as ever; there are significantquantities of both domestic and international capital looking to buy realestate, and turnover is running at or near record levels. Despite thiscompetition, since March 2006 we have acquired almost £480 million of assets, ofwhich £237 million were after the year end. Our recent acquisitions have allbeen a source of strong returns for the Group and, with good current deal flow,we believe that we will be able to unearth new opportunities to create furthervalue. The year to 31 March 2007 was a busy and successful one for Great Portland, andone in which the hard work of everybody at the Group showed through in ourexcellent results. Looking forward, our core markets remain strong and we arewell positioned to benefit; our development portfolio has plenty of opportunityfor significant further growth; our average portfolio rents remain low, offeringmaterial upside; and our strong balance sheet gives us ample capacity forexpansion. We look forward with confidence to building on the strong returns wedelivered last year and to telling shareholders more about our progress when wepublish our Interim Management Statement for the first quarter on the 19 July2007". Contacts: Great Portland Estates plcToby CourtauldChief Executive+44 (0)20 7647 3042 FinsburyJames Murgatroyd+44 (0)20 7251 3801 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange