Northacre's H1 revenue falls a it cautions about Brexit uncertainity

For the six months ended 30 June, revenue decreased by 10% to £1.8m when compared to the same period last year, due to lower development management fees from the Vicarage Gate House, 13 Vicarage Gate and Chester Square developments in London.

Non-executive chairman Klas Nilsson, said the decision to leave the EU in June’s referendum is expected to result in added caution in the prime residential market, in addition to the current headwinds which the sector is facing.

“Chief amongst these is stamp duty, and it is difficult to see how the new government can continue to ignore the decline in taxation income as a result of falling sales. There has been no positive impact at the lower end of the market, and we believe the current stamp duty levy will have to be reviewed before long.”

"It is difficult to see how the new government can continue to ignore the decline in taxation income as a result of falling sales," he said.

In April, the government introduced a 3% stamp duty land tax surcharge on additional residential properties valued at £40,000 or more in the UK or abroad.

Nilsson added: “Clearly there remains political and economic uncertainty in particular with regard to our future relationship with the EU. It is too early to make any predictions about the precise impact of the vote to leave EU, and the outlook for the prime residential sector is therefore that it will remain flat at least for the next few months.

"In the meantime, committed investors will use the opportunity to acquire financial assets cheaply against the backdrop of the fall in the value of sterling, though this is less likely to be so beneficial to the prime residential sector.”

However, he said there was good reason to be optimistic as the company was constructing two projects, 1 Palace Street and The Broadway, in a rather more benign construction climate, with the potential for more projects at a time of economic certainty.

Administrative expenses increased by 4.7% to £2.2m and the company’s loss before tax jumped 25% to £500,000.

The company’s cash position remained relatively stable, standing at £1.1m at period end, in comparison to £1.2m at December 2015.

The Vicarage Gate House and 13 Vicarage Gate developments were finished in April and May and it will not receive any further development management fees expected from the projects.

Chester Square development is expected to finish in July 2017 due to delays at the planning and design stages which resulted in fees being spread over a longer period, further fees of £40,000 are expected in the next 12 months.

About 77% of the reported development fee income comes from 1 Palace Street with £1m and The Broadway, with £400,000. Revenue from the N Studio development remained at £300,000 and other revenue of £100,000 is from Vicarage Gate House and Chester Square.

Northacre did not recommend an interim dividend as “the funds of the company are fully employed”.

Shares in Northacre were down 4.48% to 32p at 0802 BST.