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4 Nov 2011 11:00
4 November 2011 London Finance & Investment Group P.L.C. ("LFIG" or the "Company") Proposed Disposal of Investment Property
The Company is pleased to announce that it has agreed, subject to Shareholder approval, to dispose of the Company's property in Rutland Gate, Knightsbridge, London (the `Property') for a cash consideration of £2.625million (the "Disposal"). The purchaser, Rutland Property Holdings Limited, and the Company have now exchanged contracts and therefore the Company will proceed towards completion once Shareholder approval has been obtained.
As the Disposal represents more than 25% of the market capitalisation of the Company, the Company is required by the Listing Rules to seek Shareholder approval of the Disposal as a class 1 transaction. Such Shareholder approval will be sought at a General Meeting to be held shortly; Notice of the General Meeting will be contained in a Circular to Shareholders which is being drafted and will be mailed to Shareholders once the Circular has been approved by the relevant regulatory authorities.
Details of the Property
The Property was carried in the Company's books on 30 June 2011 at £367,000 but was valued in July 2011 at £2,150,000 on an open market basis in accordance with valuation standards issued by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. An updated Property Valuation report will be included in the Circular.
The Property is leased to Marshall Monteagle PLC, a company controlled by trusts associated with Mr. D.C. Marshall and Mr. J.M. Robotham, Directors of the Company. The Property has been let on the basis that the tenant meets all costs related to the Property and pays a rent which up to 1 January 2009 was £ 27,000 p.a., from 1 January 2009 to 30 September 2011 was £40,000 p.a. and from 1 October 2011 has been increased to £53,000. No costs relating to the Property such as maintenance and repairs have been borne by the Company i.e. the rental income is both the gross and net income from the Property. As a consequence of the Disposal, rental income from the Property will decline by £53,000 in the next 12 months. This would have been a return of 2.5% based on the July 2011 valuation of the Property.
If the sale proceeds are not re-invested, and the bulk of the proceeds are used to repay all of the Company's borrowings, the Directors estimate that the effect on earnings will be a reduction of approximately £15,000 per annum assuming that interest earned on surplus cash deposits is 1% and base rates remain at 0.5%. Each extra 1% that can be earned on the surplus cash deposits will increase after tax earnings by approximately £3,000 per annum. If all the Disposal proceeds are re-invested and achieve a similar yield (3.6% before tax) to the Company's existing General investment portfolio, earnings will increase by approximately £23,000 per annum. The actual effect on earnings will depend on the extent and speed with which sale proceeds are re-invested.
Completion of the Disposal will provide the Company with:
* cash proceeds of approximately £2.35 million (net of transaction costs and tax); * a strengthened balance sheet reflecting the cash proceeds; * reduced exposure to a single property which represented in excess of one-fifth of the assets of the Company; * an opportunity to redeploy capital in line with the investment policy of the Company.
The Company will make a further announcement when the Circular has been posted to Shareholders.
Enquiries:
London Finance & Investment Group P.L.C.
Lloyd Marshall
Tel: 020 7448 8950
Beaumont Cornish Limited, Sponsor
Roland Cornish
Tel: 0207 628 3396
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