City building sale pays off for Fletcher King

A low-rise City of London building led to a high-rise interim result for Fletcher King on Wednesday.

The AIM-listed property fund management firm saw a significant increase in turnover for the six months to 31 October, up from £1.83m to £2.96m.

Profit before tax soared from £293,000 last year to £1.19m, with earnings per share more than quadrupling to 10.26p (2014: 2.51p).

Fletcher King put a large chunk of its impressive results down to the sale of the building at 145 Leadenhall Street.

The company was a part of the syndicate which purchased it, and also acted as an advisor on the sale, earning it a portion of fees as well as profits.

Fletcher King pointed to the continued strength of the central London market, but said there were signs demand was rippling out to provincial centres, especially along the M3/M4 corridor.

"However, it is worth noting that the London office market is ten times larger than its nearest rival and twice and large as the combines total of the UK's big six regional cities", chairman David Fletcher noted.

"Our prospects going forward look satisfactory, although performance will be more in line with previous periods than the exceptional performance of this first half year", he added.

Fletcher King will pay a dividend of 1p per share, down from 1.5p last year.