Circle Property sells One Castle Park and 141 Moorgate assets

Property investment firm Circle Property has completed the sale of its One Castle Park site in Bristol for £20.0m.

Circle Property said on Friday that the One Castle Park sale price represented a 3.9% increase on the asset's 31 March valuation of £19.25m and was markedly higher than the £4.16m paid for the property by the group back in November 2012.

In line with the AIM-listed group's commitment to reduce the company's gearing, £18.0m of the sale proceeds will be used to repay a proportion of its revolving credit facility with RBS and HSBC, reducing the group's loan-to-value ratio to 36.9%, excluding cash at bank, and the total amount drawn down under the facility to £40.54m.

Separately, Circle Property revealed it had exchanged contracts to sell its 141 Moorgate asset in London to Moorgate (141) Properties for approximately £7.1m, representing a 27.3% increase on its 30 September valuation of £2.85m. The cash proceeds from the sale due to the company of £3.6m will, on completion, also be utilised to reduce the company's gearing.

Chief executive John Arnold said: "The disposal of One Castle Park allows the company to significantly reduce its loan-to-value in accordance with our previously stated objective and the £0.75 million gain over the 31 March 2021 valuation, makes a sizeable contribution to this year's profit, with the sale of 141 Moorgate contributing a similar amount over the 30 September 2021 valuation."

As of 0850 GMT, Circle Property shares were down 2.24% at 196.50p.