As the parent company of the Sheffield-based Henry Boot Group of Companies, Henry Boot PLC is one of the leading property and construction organisations in the country. Its successful group operations encompass property (Henry Boot Developments Limited), land (Hallam Land Management Limited), construction (Henry Boot Construction Limited) and plant (Banner Plant Limited).

The origins of the company go back over 125 years when local farmer's son, Henry Boot, started his one-man construction business in 1886 to carry out modest jobbing work in the Sheffield and surrounding area. He rapidly expanded into large-scale public works and housing projects throughout the country and, with his son Charles, built the foundations of our company's proud and colourful history


http://www.henryboot.co.uk/

Half-yearly report 2013

http://interimreports.henryboot.co.uk/2013/public_html/home/

Broker snap: WH Ireland hands Henry Boot a 'buy' rating

Mon, 23 September 2013


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Price: 188.00

Chg: 1.00

Chg %: 0.53%

Date: 17:06


Property company Henry Boot was given a ‘buy’ rating from WH Ireland Research after reporting a hike in first half earnings.

Operating profit rose to £7.8m from the prior year’s £5.9m and pre-tax profit jumped to £7.4m from £5.5m as earnings per share increased to 3.6p from 2.2p.

“Following a good set of first half results recently, we still view Henry Boot as attractively valued, and reiterate our 'buy' recommendation with a raised 245p price target (+28%),” WH Ireland said in a note Monday.

“Results were well ahead year-on-year in terms of the headline numbers and showed good progress across the divisions.”

White trading is “lumpy”, the momentum is “good and improving”, the broker added.

The analyst said it believes the value in the portfolio is being effectively exploited and sees the uptick in the sector and the economy as being likely to provide many more opportunities to exploit these assets.

“Gearing remains modest and we note the 4% increase in net asset value highlighted by Henry Boot last month.”

Shares rose 0.91% to 188.70p at 10:06 on Monday.

5 Nov Numis 217.00 Buy

Final Results


2013 KEY FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS



Profit before tax increased 37% to £18.4m (2012 restated: £13.4m)

Property revaluation deficit of £1.6m (2012: surplus £1.4m)

Investment property disposal profits of £0.3m (2012: £1.0m)

Trading profits* increased 72% to £20.3m (2012: £11.8m)


Earnings per share increased 23% to 8.6p (2012: 7.0p)


Proposed final dividend of 3.15p (2012: 2.90p), giving a total for the year of 5.10p (2012: 4.70p), an 8.5% increase


Total shareholder return of 52% in 2013 and 140% over the last three years


Net asset value per share of 148p (2012: 139p)


·

Investment in strategic land inventories of £9.1m saw a planned net debt rise to £36.1m (2012: £21.9m) and gearing to 19% (2012: 12%)


·

Strategic land acreage now 9,723 acres (2012: 9,011 acres


http://www.moneyam.com/action/news/showArticle?id=4780238

Interim Management Statement

RNS


RNS Number : 8798G

Boot(Henry) PLC

13 May 2014






Henry Boot PLC

('the Company' or 'the Group')





Interim Management Statement





Henry Boot PLC (LSE: BHY) is releasing the following Interim Management Statement in respect of the period 1 January 2014 to 12 May 2014.





Trading and outlook



Trading since the beginning of 2014 has been encouraging across all the Group businesses and providing these trends continue, we remain confident of meeting the Board's expectations for the full year. Our portfolio of sites has great potential in the recovering property market although navigating the planning process expediently continues to prove challenging.



KEY EVENTS IN THE PERIOD



LAND DEVELOPMENT




·

The steady improvement in the housing market has continued into 2014 helped by improving mortgage availability which we do not expect to be adversely affected by the tighter lending criteria recently announced.


·

During the period we completed five site disposals covering 435 units, with values achieved as expected.


·

Our land portfolio currently stands at 9,560 acres, marginally down on the end of 2013 total, as a result of the aforementioned land sales. We continue to be very active acquiring further sites and expect to add to the portfolio as and when purchase agreements are concluded.


·

Planning approvals (including minded to grant approvals) were achieved at nine sites for 1,040 housing units and 145 extra care plots. We are also awaiting the outcome of the Legal Challenge to the signed Section 106 agreement connected to the permission already granted on the 1,593 plot site at Blaby.


·

We have a further nine sites either at appeal or awaiting an appeal application for around 3,000 units in total.


·

New planning applications have been submitted in the period on six sites for 2,420 plots.


·

We currently have 36 consented sites which are in various stages of the disposal process. The disposal of our larger schemes will take place over a number of years, however, we are in advanced discussions for the sale of a number of other sites which we hope to report on further as this year progresses.




PROPERTY INVESTMENT AND DEVELOPMENT




·

At our 200 acre business park at Markham Vale we completed development of a petrol filling station, small convenience store and drive-thru Starbucks. Contracts have also exchanged to pre-let a 50,000 sq ft industrial unit for development in the second half of the year. Furthermore, a £14.2m grant award in the period should assist the delivery of further industrial developments later in the year and into 2015.


·

The design and planning phase of a new 400,000 sq ft exhibition and conference centre in partnership with Aberdeen City Council is progressing well with the initial scheme proposal out to public consultation ahead of the submission of a planning application.


·

At Westlake's Science Park in Cumbria contracts have been exchanged to acquire a 1.2 acre site for a 21,000 sq ft office development, pre-let to W S Atkins PLC. Detailed planning permission and grant funding has been awarded for the scheme which will start later in the year and complete in the first half of 2015.


·

Construction work on our mixed-use leisure and office development on Deansgate, in Manchester completed early in 2014 and agreed terms for the final letting are expected to be exchanged soon.


·

At Thorne, we completed the site sale for a 36,000 sq ft supermarket to Tesco and enabling infrastructure works have now commenced.


·

In Stoke our tenant, Recticel Limited, who currently occupy 123,000 sq ft of industrial space manufacturing rigid foam board insulation, has committed to take a 69,000 sq ft warehouse and office extension, with a new 20 year lease on the enlarged unit. Work has commenced on site and is expected to be completed by October 2014.


·

The redevelopment and refurbishment of our retail scheme in Beeston town centre, near Nottingham, has commenced, following the exchange of a number of agreed lettings. The scheme is expected to be completed by the end of 2014.


·

Having completed the shell and core works early in 2014, we have now commenced the extensive fit-out works for the 50,000 sq ft office and outpatients centre, pre-let to Calderdale & Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust with completion expected early 2015.


·

We are currently in detailed discussions with both residential developers and hotel operators in connection with the former Chocolate Factory in York. Provided these discussions conclude successfully and planning permission is achieved as expected; we hope to begin delivering the scheme in 2015 taking several years to complete it.




CONSTRUCTION DIVISION




·

Our Construction business carried a strong order book into 2014 and has continued to win work such that we expect to achieve targeted activity in 2014 and are already building a 2015 order book. Although construction contract pricing is still tight and some inflationary pressure is just beginning to feed through, it is pleasing to report that the contracting opportunities available to us are at the highest levels for several years.


·

Road Link (A69) Limited, our PFI contract, continues to trade in line with the Board's expectations. We benefited from a relatively mild winter and traffic volumes have risen slightly for the first time in several years as the general economic recovery takes hold.


·

Banner Plant Limited has seen further improvements in activity and utilisation so far this year. Provided this continues through the summer months when 2013 comparatives were strong, we should achieve a solid result for the year.

Henry Boot PLC will announce the Group's Interim Results for the six months ended 30 June 2014 on Friday 22 August 2014.

2014 Half-yearly Results

HIGHLIGHTS




·

Operating profit: increased 79% to £14.0m (2013: £7.8m)


·

Property revaluation surplus: £1.8m (2013: deficit £0.5m)


·

Investment property disposal profits: £0.3m (2013: £0.2m)


·

Profit before tax: increased 81% to £13.4m (2013: £7.4m)


·

Earnings per share: increased 106% to 7.4p (2013: 3.6p)


·

Increased interim dividend: 2.10p (2013: 1.95p)


·

Net asset value per share: 149p (31 December 2013: 148p)


·

Net debt: £33.1m (31 December 2013: £36.1m)





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22 Aug Investec 277.00 Buy
22 Aug Numis 254.00 Buy
22 Aug Investec 277.00 Buy

Director/PDMR Shareholding

RNS


RNS Number : 2602V

Boot(Henry) PLC

24 October 2014






HENRY BOOT PLC ('the Company')





Notification of transactions by a Person Discharging Managerial Responsibilities


The Company has been advised by Mr. Jonathan James Sykes, a Non-executive Director, that today, 24 October 2014 in London, he beneficially acquired 10,000 Ordinary Shares of 10 pence each ('Ordinary Shares') in the issued share capital of the Company at a price of 187.71 pence per share.

Interim Management Statement

RNS


RNS Number : 8521W

Boot(Henry) PLC

13 November 2014






Henry Boot PLC

('the Company' or 'the Group')





Interim Management Statement





The Board of Henry Boot PLC (LSE: BHY) issues the following unaudited Interim Management Statement in respect of the period 1 July 2014 to 12 November 2014.





Trading and outlook



Trading throughout the period has been good, with all our subsidiaries performing well within reasonably buoyant end marketplaces. This solid performance reaffirms our confidence in meeting the Board's expectations for the full year.



KEY EVENTS IN THE PERIOD



LAND DEVELOPMENT



The first half of 2014 saw increased land buying activity by house builders, fuelled by a rapid increase in the number of site openings and improving house sales, assisted by Government backed finance schemes such as 'Help to Buy'. During this second half of the year, however, we have seen this growth in activity moderate as tighter mortgage conditions and valuation concerns in London became more prevalent. Experience tells us that, for a period of time around the forthcoming general election, we will see a tougher planning regime in operation and to some extent this is happening already. Notwithstanding that, we have continued to take advantage of the more benevolent planning environment to secure a number of new permissions and, the healthy land market to conclude profitable land sales.



As a consequence, during the period:




·

We concluded land disposals at Marston Moretaine, Winsford, Oulton and Hailsham.


·

We agreed to promote greenfield land for planning on three new sites, bringing our total interests in land to 9,837 acres.


·

We successfully obtained planning approvals for 375 residential plots and 37 acres of land for employment use.




In addition:




·

We are in advanced negotiations on nine other land sales which bodes well for 2015.


·

We currently have six applications at the Appeal stage of the planning process totalling 2,510 plots.


·

We have a further 14 undetermined planning applications totalling 6,510 plots, and we have a significant portfolio of sites that are further back in the allocation or neighbourhood plan part of the planning status.


·

Finally, we have in the region of 40 sites, totalling some 11,000 plots, available for disposal. These schemes are distributed throughout England and Scotland and include five large sites at Blaby, Cranbrook, Bedford, Chatteris and Burton upon Trent where land disposals are likely to occur over a longer time frame.




PROPERTY INVESTMENT AND DEVELOPMENT



After several years when developing investment property for an acceptable risk weighted return was very difficult, markets have begun to improve. The projects detailed below reflect an improving situation in both the investment and tenant appetite for newly built schemes, and the completion valuation of developments.




·

At Markham Vale, developed in partnership with Derbyshire County Council, we have successfully completed two design and build factory units totalling over 50,000 sq ft, both were delivered on time and budget. Furthermore, we have two pre-lets for an additional 150,000 sq ft of new factory space. Construction work has commenced on site with both units and is forecast to complete in 2015. Pre-let terms have also been agreed with a third company to lease a 40,000 sq ft factory unit with the development expected to commence early in 2015. Finally, the Marston's public house development is expected to be completed and trading by the end of 2014.


·

The first development with Calderdale & Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust to provide a new outpatient and office facility is on programme to be completed in December 2014. The second project, involving the mixed-use redevelopment of a 23 acre former hospital site, saw the submission of a planning application in the period.


·

The 69,000 sq ft factory extension to our industrial investment in Stoke-on-Trent, developed a number of years ago, has now completed on budget. In conjunction with this extension we have agreed a new 20 year lease with the existing tenant and expect this to have a positive impact on the investment's valuation at the 2014 year end.


·

The sale of the Pure Gym investment, situated at Clifton Moor in York, recently concluded at the latest valuation figure of £1.755m.


·

At our Bromley investment, we have agreed the rent review with the multi-storey car park operator and have secured a significant uplift. Once again, we expect to see the positive impact of this review in the property's forthcoming valuation.


·

At Beeston, Nottingham, the redevelopment and refurbishment of the existing town centre retail scheme should be completed by the end of 2014. Terms have been agreed with a national retailer to lease the last remaining retail unit resulting in the redevelopment being fully let by early 2015.


·

The development of two budget hotels in Richmond upon Thames and Malvern, unconditionally pre-let to Travelodge and Premier Inn respectively, have commenced and both are expected to be completed in 2015.


·

In Bodmin, having secured detailed planning consent, agreements have now been exchanged with Home Bargains to lease an initial phase, retail warehouse of 18,000 sq ft, with construction work expected to commence shortly.


·

In Cumbria, a 22,000 sq ft office development, fully pre-let to a subsidiary of W S Atkins plc, has commenced on site and is on programme to complete by mid 2015.


·

Stonebridge Homes Limited, our jointly owned Leeds based house builder, is on track to sell some 30 units by the end of this year, in line with management expectations.




CONSTRUCTION DIVISION




·

Henry Boot Construction Limited has traded strongly in 2014. Additionally, we expect to secure approximately 70% of 2015 budgeted turnover by the end of this year, slightly ahead of expectations. Encouragingly, we are seeing improvements in both construction activity and the size of opportunities coming to market. There are signs that this will begin to lead to improvements in pricing levels in 2015. However, the recovery is fragile, particularly in the north of England, and we recognise that construction activity may be temporarily affected by next year's general election.


·

We have continued to maintain a good presence in the social housing sector with long-term frameworks in Doncaster, North East Lincolnshire, and Manchester. We also continue to undertake construction projects across a wide range of sectors including industrial, health, commercial, education and leisure. Notably, and appearing to mirror improvements in the economy generally, we have seen increases in commercial and industrial tender opportunities.


·

We have recently secured a further four projects on our ongoing framework with the Ministry of Justice in the north of England, and expect further opportunities to arise over the remaining four years of this six year framework.


·

We have also seen an increase in civil engineering workloads during the year; in particular, within our supply chain agreement on the 25 year Amey Sheffield Highways 'Streets Ahead' PFI scheme where we have delivered a large number of small projects, and expect to deliver further, similar schemes over the next four years.


·

Road Link (A69) Limited, with 11 years of the 30 year franchise to run, continues to trade in line with management expectations.


·

Banner Plant Limited has traded well throughout the year and, subject to any major weather related event that impacts activity in December, we expect the result for the year to be ahead of 2013.

Trading Update

RNS


RNS Number : 1685Z

Boot(Henry) PLC

09 December 2014






HENRY BOOT PLC

('the Company')



Trading Update





The Company released a Trading Update on 13 November 2014 detailing that trading was in line with management expectations for the year ended 31 December 2014, and that it was in advanced negotiations on nine strategic land sales, which bodes well for 2015.



Today, the Company announces that two of those strategic land sales have now completed and consequently, we anticipate that our trading result for the year ended 31 December 2014 will be materially ahead of current consensus expectations.



We anticipate publishing a Pre-close Trading Update on 23 January 2015, regarding the Company's unaudited year end trading and the unaudited investment property valuation movements as at 31 December 2014

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

9 Dec Numis 254.00 Buy
9 Dec Investec 277.00 Buy

Trading Update
RNS
RNS Number : 8053C
Boot(Henry) PLC
22 January 2015



HENRY BOOT PLC

('the Group')



Trading Update





The Board of Henry Boot PLC issues the following pre-close trading update for the year ended 31 December 2014.



Subsequent to the recent trading update on 9 December 2014, trading continued to be healthy through to 31 December 2014, in particular, in our plant, construction and jointly owned house builder businesses. This performance, coupled with minor variations to expected property values arising from the year end external property valuation, means that the Board is pleased to announce that profit before tax for the year ended 31 December 2014 is expected to be comfortably ahead of current consensus market expectations.



2015 has started well across all of the Group's businesses with the seven land sale transactions mentioned in the trading update, progressing satisfactorily towards a conclusion in the year.



We look forward to updating shareholders in more detail at the time of our 2014 full year results announcement on Thursday 26 March 2015.


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


22 Jan Numis 254.00 Buy
22 Jan Investec 277.00 Buy

IC - Accordingly analysts at Numis Securities are upgrading their forecasts for the third time in a year to pre tax profit of £28.2m and EPS of 15.3p. Trading at the start of the year shows a continuing strong trend, with seven land sales progressing to a successful conclusion. Significantly, the groups construction and jointly-owned housebuilding business have also performed well.

Simon T of IC - Target price

As I have noted earlier, the company’s balance sheet is not only conservatively geared, but also understates the true worth of the component parts of the business. Factor in the profits embedded in the development pipeline, mark investment properties and land holding to market value, and analysts at Investec calculate a sum-of-the-parts value of 277p per share. W.H. Ireland are more aggressive and have a fair value target price of 317p.

They may prove right in their assumptions, but I am going to be less aggressive in the near-term and believe that a return to the 249p highs of last year is not just a realistic short-term target, but a highly probably one too in light of next month’s eye-catching financial results and yet more positive news flow on trading. A move through last month's high of 214p would be strong confirmation that the multi-month consolidation period is over and a return to the 249p highs from early last year is highly likely. But I would be acting ahead of that that price move. So offering 20 per cent share price upside, I rate Henry Boot’s shares a strong short-term buy now on a bid-offer spread of 202p to 205.5p. The timeframe for this trade is three months.

6 Mar Investec 277.00 Buy

ST of IC -Foundation for bumper profits from Granite city

Investors are warming to Henry Boot

(BHY: 232p), the 129-year-old Sheffield based construction and property company, and with good reason after Aberdeen City Council approved the master plan and business case for the new Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre (AECC), a development that will be more than twice the size of the existing exhibition centre.

Henry Boot had the site, on which the scheme will be built, under contract and will act as development partner, alongside Aberdeen City Council, to deliver this project. Construction work is set to start by the middle of next year and is due to complete in late 2018. It is estimated that the gross development value of the first phase, including the 750,000 sq ft exhibition and conference centre, two hotels and an anaerobic digestion green energy centre, will exceed £300m. Analysts at brokerage Investec estimate that Henry Boot will make a development profit of £30m on the first phase alone, phased in from the 2016 fiscal year to 2019. The master plan envisages a further 400,000 sq ft of business park accommodation and the redevelopment of the existing conference centre site.

Investec now expects Henry Boot to lift its gross trading profit from £41m in 2014 to £44m in 2015, rising again to £46m in 2016. On this basis, the shares are still only trading on 12.5 times 2016 EPS estimates of 18.5p and offer a near-3 per cent forward dividend yield, too. The value on offer aside, the AECC deal shows how the company is releasing value from its substantial land bank and is using commercial partners to front the development costs to de-risk the investment. In fact, Henry Boot is making no capital investment in the AECC at all.

So having advised buying the shares at 202p (‘A bootiful investment’, 19 February 2015), I strongly feel there is scope for them to rise to my 249p target price and beyond. Analyst Alison Watson at Investec has a 277p target price, and Nick Spoliar at WH Ireland has a 317p target price. Buy.

Finals Thurs 26 March

Final Results
RNS
RNS Number : 4717I
Boot(Henry) PLC
26 March 2015



HENRY BOOT PLC



UNAUDITED PRELIMINARY RESULTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2014


Henry Boot PLC ('Henry Boot', 'the Company' or 'the Group') (Ticker: BHY: Main market premium listing: FTSE: construction & materials), a company engaged in land development, property investment and development, and construction, announces its preliminary results for the year ended 31 December 2014.


2014 KEY FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS
· Profit before tax increased 54% to £28.3m (2013: £18.4m)

· Earnings per share increased 88% to 16.2p (2013: 8.6p)

· Proposed final dividend of 3.50p (2013: 3.15p), giving a total for the year of 5.60p (2013: 5.10p), a 9.8% increase

· 74% total shareholder return over the last three years

· Net asset value per share of 152p (2013: 148p)

· Gearing reduced to 18% (2013: 19%), though net debt increased slightly to £36.4m (2013: £36.1m)

· Strategic land acreage now 9,985 acres (2013: 9,723 acres)



Commenting on the results, Chairman John Brown said:

"I am delighted to report another year of strong results for our Group. It is also pleasing to report that all of the businesses within the Group performed well in their market segment."

"Henry Boot enters 2015 in great shape, with a portfolio of high quality opportunities to deliver growing shareholder returns. The 2015 financial year has started positively."

"In the shorter term, we remain confident that prevailing economic and market conditions will allow us to deliver growing returns through 2015. In the longer term we continue to identify and acquire numerous valuable opportunities to enable us to deliver our strategic goal, well into the future."

For further information, please contact

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26 Mar WH Ireland... 317.50 Buy
26 Mar Investec 282.00 Buy

ST of IC today - There are selective holdings I am keen on irrespective of who is running the country in a few weeks time, one of which is Henry Boot

(BHY: 225p) (‘A six-shooter of small cap buys’, 10 March 2015). The 129-year-old Sheffield based construction and property company is likely to be a beneficiary no matter which political party is in power. Henry Boot owns a significant number of oven ready sites which undoubtedly will prove attractive to major housebuilders as I pointed out when I initiated coverage, especially if they are forced through political intervention to ramp out new build output (‘A bootiful investment’, 19 February 2015).

21 May Investec 282.00 Buy