Office investment firm Circle Property has reported a rebound to profit after completing a series of multi-million pound sales of its regional workspace assets.
The Aim-listed company said it made “good progress” with a disposal strategy during its last financial year, ending March 31, 2022, selling four properties for a total of £62m.
These transactions included deals for major office developments in Bristol, including a £20m deal for One Castle Park in the city centre and the sale of a unit – number 135 – at the out-of-town Aztec West business park in Almondsbury for £3.96m.
It also secured £34.5m from the sale of the Compass Conference Centre in Milton Keynes.
The Jersey-headquartered group’s profit before tax was £5.8m, up from a £2.7m loss last year, which it said reflected a combination of operational profit and revaluation gains.
Circle Property said the aggregate price from its four office sales was £3m – or 5% above the aggregate March 2021 valuation. It added that 80% of its total portfolio was let and income producing, with total rental income of £7.4m.
Chief executive John Arnold said “momentum has continued” into the current financial year with the sale of another office building at Aztec West – number 720 for £2.52m in May – £0.32m ahead of its March 2022 valuation.
He added the proceeds generated from its disposals had predominantly been used to fully repay its outstanding debt, and the company had a net cash balance of £5.8m.
Mr Arnold said: “We remain focused on actively managing our assets and returning capital to shareholders in the most tax efficient manner. There remains a shortage of high-quality, well-located regional offices and we therefore remain confident that the appetite for our assets is set to continue.”
The board recommended a final dividend of 3.5p, bringing the total dividend for the year to 7p – an increase of 8% on last year.
Bosses added they were expecting a minimum of two returns of capital to shareholders, the first of which they anticipated would come by March 2023.
