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Capital & Counties Properties PLC on Wednesday said there was strong momentum ahead of the completion of its all-share merger with Shaftesbury PLC. For the financial year 2022, property firm with investments in London’s West End, Covent Garden and Shaftesbury swung to a pretax loss of £205.8 million from a restated profit of £35.5 million in 2021. This came after reporting a huge loss on fair value of financial assets that amounted to £239.5 million in 2022 following a gain of £44.6 million a year earlier. Revenue rose by 2.5% to £74.1 million from £72.3 million, with underlying net rental income increasing by 17% to £57.2 million from the restated £48.9 million. Capco declared dividend of 2.5 pence, up 67% from 1.5p. Underlying earnings per share grew to 2.2p from restated 0.1p. The independent property valuation of Covent Garden was £1.7 billion, unchanged over the year like-for-like. Investment in Shaftesbury was valued at £357 million, down sharply from £596 million based on the share price of 368p, dividend income of £13.5 million received in 2022 and a further £2.6 million since year-end. Capco acquired a 25% interest in Shaftesbury in 2020. ‘There is positive momentum across the Covent Garden estate with strong demand, high occupancy levels and rental growth across all uses which has continued into 2023. Despite the macroeconomic backdrop, the West End has clearly demonstrated its resilience and enduring appeal with strong recovery in footfall and customer sales ahead of pre-pandemic levels,’ Capco Chief Executive Ian Hawksworth said. Hawksworth said the group looked ahead with confidence to completing the merger of Capco and Shaftesbury on Monday next week. The combination group will have £4.9 billion portfolio located within some of the most iconic destinations of the West End. Capco said there was strong momentum building as it look ahead to completing the merger with Shaftesbury. ‘Although the West End is not immune from the current macroeconomic challenges, it has clearly demonstrated its resilience and enduring appeal with a strong recovery post pandemic in footfall and trading conditions,’ it said. In Johannesburg, Capco shares shed 6.4% to R 26.28 on Wednesday. They were were 4.3% lower at 121.00p in London. Shaftesbury shares lost 4.3% to 414.60p in London on Wednesday morning. Copyright 2023 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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