Income, capital growth boost Workspace Group full year profits

Pre-tax profits at property outfit Workspace Group jumped 8.7% to £391.3m, with revenues up to £101.2m from £83.6m driven by income and capital growth.

The company noted the uncertainty caused by the June 23 referendum on UK EU membership, but was confident in the strength of its customer base and business model.

Net rental income rose to £74m from £57.7m and net asset values jumped 31% to 923p.

The final dividend was increased 25% to 10.19p a share making a total for the year of 15.05p.

Workspace said it saw a revaluation uplift of 9.6%, or £143m in the first half of the year and an increase of 10.2% (£165m) in the second half.

“The increase in the second half is despite the adverse impact of the increase in stamp duty introduced in March 2016,” it said.

Chief executive Jamie Hopkins said the company had managed its existing portfolio to create value through its refurbishment and redevelopment programme.

“We have also recycled capital by disposing of our industrial portfolio and reinvesting in targeted acquisitions to drive incremental returns for shareholders,” he said.

“We are aware of the uncertainty caused by the upcoming EU referendum but remain confident in the resilience of our customer base and business model,” he said.

“We look forward to continuing to execute our strategy and the business remains in good financial shape to take advantage of our pipeline of redevelopment and refurbishment opportunities, as well as targeted acquisitions that meet our investment criteria."