Kennedy Wilson full year NAV jumps 15%

Kennedy Wilson Europe Real Estate reported a 15% jump in full year net asset value and a hike in the dividend thanks to good progress across all of the business.

In the year to the end of December, adjusted net asset value rose to £1.6bn from £1.4bn in 2014 and the portfolio value rose to £2.8bn from £1.5bn following several acquisitions.

Net profit after tax came in at £259m from £78.5m and adjusted earnings per share were 47.9p compared with 25.9p in 2014.

Kennedy said it had made acquisitions of £1.14bn across 217 properties and two loan portfolios, delivering a yield on cost of 7.1%.

It said its £300m disposal programme was on track, with £124.4m of sales completed across 35 properties at an average exit yield of 5.7%, generating a return on cost of 22.9%.

Mary Ricks, president and chief executive officer of Kenney Wilson Europe, said: "Our business remains in robust operational health with ample liquidity. This will allow us to selectively capitalise on investment opportunities across our target regions that may arise from potential market dislocations, given the current volatile state of capital markets."

The company, which invests in direct real estate and real estate loans, declared a 12p per share dividend for the first quarter of 2016, up from 10p in the previous quarter.

“We remain confident in our ability to drive further income growth to support the 37% prospective increase in the annualised dividend of 48.0 pence for 2016, announced this morning,” it said.