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/

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

/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////



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

AGM Trading Update
RNS
RNS Number : 8241N
Boot(Henry) PLC
21 May 2015



Henry Boot PLC

('the Company' or 'the Group')



AGM Trading Update





Henry Boot PLC will hold its Annual General Meeting at 12.30 p.m. today at which the Chairman will make the following statement regarding current trading and the outlook for the current financial year.



The statement covers the period from 1 January 2015 to date and supplements the update given with the 2014 results on 26 March 2015.





Trading and outlook



Trading since the beginning of 2015 has, once again, been encouraging across all the Group's businesses. The three business segments, land, commercial development and construction, are all trading well. A short term lack of decision making around the Election, especially within the public sector, meant that, as expected, concluding transactions in the last couple of months have been a little slower. However, the strengthened position of the governing party leads us to expect a quick return to normalised activity levels. We therefore remain confident of meeting the Board's expectations for the full year.





KEY EVENTS IN THE PERIOD



LAND DEVELOPMENT



Activity levels continue to be high within Hallam Land. We are promoting a land portfolio of over 140 sites amounting to over 10,000 acres.



During the period:



·
We concluded two land sales for over 500 units and received a small uplift from a previous disposal, all at price levels we were anticipating.



·
We are in discussion to sell a further 13 sites for over 1,800 consented units, some of which will complete in 2015, others will conclude in 2016.



·
In total, and including the sales in progress above, we have 47 sites with over 12,000 units holding either planning permission or "minded to grant" consent subject to agreeing a S106 with the local authority in question.



·
We have a further 25 sites for over 10,000 units which are within the planning process but are, as yet, undetermined or are within the appeals system.




PROPERTY INVESTMENT AND DEVELOPMENT



·
At Markham Vale, our 200 acre business park being developed in partnership with Derbyshire County Council, pre-let agreements have been exchanged with Great Bear Distribution Ltd to take a new 480,000 sq ft distribution warehouse. This scheme is expected to be completed by mid-2016 and terms for the forward funded sale of the development are expected to be finalised shortly. This letting is in addition to 190,000 sq ft of pre-let industrial development that is already expected to complete in 2015.



·
The development of a new exhibition and conference centre for Aberdeen City Council took a significant step forward in March 2015 when the Council gave unanimous approval to complete legal agreements. This scheme will include three hotels, an energy centre as well as a 400,000 sq ft conference and exhibition centre. Planning applications are expected to be submitted by mid-year and construction is targeted to commence in early 2016.



·
A ten year development agreement was exchanged with the Crown Estate and Luton Borough Council for the development of Butterfields Business Park, a 45 acre employment site in Luton, which already has planning permission and is partially serviced.



·
The redevelopment of Terry's Chocolate Factory in York also made significant progress with submission of detailed planning and listed building consent applications and the exchange of contracts for the conversion of the main listed factory building to provide over 150 luxury apartments. Planning permission is expected to be secured mid-year, enabling work to commence by late 2015 with the first apartments being completed in the first half of 2016.



·
The 22,000 sq ft office development, pre-let to Atkins Ltd, on Westlakes Science Park in Cumbria will be completed imminently, on programme and to budget, terms for the sale of the investment are expected to be agreed shortly.



·
Our jointly owned house builder, Stonebridge, is on course to grow further this year with completed sales ahead of last year. We achieved planning permission on a 114 unit development in Sheffield and are hopeful of gaining consent for a further 109 units in Leeds mid-2015. We are actively acquiring further sites, predominantly in the north Leeds area, to provide for the anticipated future growth in unit sales.




CONSTRUCTION DIVISION



·
Our Construction business continues to undertake projects across a wide range of sectors including industrial, residential housing, custodial, health, commercial, education, leisure, renewable energy and civil engineering. We have made a strong start to the year and expect to achieve targeted activity in 2015 and are already building the 2016 order book. Encouragingly, and contrary to press comments regarding parts of the UK construction market, we are seeing improvements in both construction activity and the size of opportunities coming to market. As a consequence, we hope for a small improvement in pricing levels associated with the growing workload in all our operating sectors.



·
Our plant business is trading well and activity is ahead of the equivalent period last year. At this stage, we are seeing good demand for all parts of the hire fleet from a generally improving construction industry in the north of England.



·
Road Link (A69) Limited, our PFI contract, continues to trade in line with previous years and management expectations.

ST of IC today - Trading on 13 times forward earnings, and offering a prospective dividend yield of 2.5 per cent, I continue to rate the shares a buy on a bid-offer spread of 230p to 235p. In fact, I have raised my target price to 260p to reflect the more stable housing market conditions resulting from the election of a Conservative administration.

2015 Half yearly results

28 Aug Investec 292.00 Buy

ST of IC - Target price

So having first recommended buying Henry Boot’s shares at 202p (‘A bootiful investment’, 19 February 2015), I continue to feel there is scope for the price to rise to at least my 260p target price (‘A trio of small cap buys’, 14 July 2015) and perhaps even higher. Analyst Alison Watson at Investec has a raised target price of 292p, and Nick Spoliar at WH Ireland has a 317.5p target price.

Trading Update
RNS
RNS Number : 9161L
Boot(Henry) PLC
15 January 2016



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 2015 ahead of its preliminary results which will be announced on Thursday 24 March 2016.



December was, as expected, very busy from a deal completion perspective; we sold four strategic land sites and four completed development properties with the result that underlying trading profits finished the year ahead of market expectations. In addition, we have received draft year end property valuation data and have made provisions against certain investment sites where the anticipated schemes will not now come forward as originally envisaged.



Taking account of the above solid trading performance and draft valuation data, the Board now expects that profit before tax and earnings per share for the year ended 31 December 2015 will be slightly ahead of market expectations.



We are now on site with the residential redevelopment of the former Chocolate Factory in York and expect to begin selling units from this scheme imminently, with show homes opening in March 2016. In addition, the fully pre-let and pre-sold 480,000 sq ft distribution unit at Markham Vale commenced in November 2015 for completion late in 2016.



We recently obtained detailed planning permission for our major development in Aberdeen which includes a conference centre, three hotels, an anaerobic digestion plant and an energy centre. This, first-phase scheme, has a gross development value in the region of £300m and once financing and contractor discussions are concluded, we hope to start building out midway through 2016.



With the scale of commercial development in progress and the discussions already taking place with house builders for strategic land sites, we start 2016 in an excellent position to achieve another year of progress as we strive to deliver growth in long-term shareholder value.



We look forward to updating shareholders further at the time of our annual results.

15 Jan Investec 292.00 Buy

ST of IC today - In the circumstances, and ahead of next month's full-year results, I feel very comfortable re-iterating my buy advice and my target price of 260p with Henry Boot's shares trading on a bid-offer spread of 220p to 222p. Analyst Alison Watson at Investec maintains a target price of 292p, and Nick Spoliar at WH Ireland has a target price of 317p. Buy.