Record profits for Kingswinford's LCP
Commercial property and investment company London and Cambridge Properties has announced record results for its latest financial year.
The business, which has its headquarters in Kingwsinford, is one of the UK's largest private owners of industrial, retail and office property to let.
It recorded a pre-tax profit of £135.5 million for the year to the end of March, up by 60 per cent on the previous year.
Nick Burgess, LCP managing director, said: “This has been another exceptional year for the Group as we continue to invest in acquisitions across and to improve and develop our existing portfolio.
“We pride ourselves on ensuring that we intensively manage our properties, with dedicated asset managers working closely with local communities and tenants to deliver the highest standards.
“This approach means that our occupancy levels are high. Last year, we maintained occupancy levels of 94% in our industrial portfolio and 93% in retail.
“It’s not just our properties we are investing in: we have also grown the number of asset managers and in-house solicitors so that we can better serve our growing demand.
“We are in a very good position to continue our programme of growth, acquiring suitable properties that have the best opportunities to strengthen our return on investment.”
The annual report records that underlying profits – which exclude the impact of valuations of investment property and financial instruments, profits on disposal of investment property, exchange differences and specific one-off costs and income – grew by 18 per cent to £58m, up from £49.1m in 2017.
Turnover grew by seven per cent to £121.4m. In the UK is was up by four per cent to £96.8m, due to acquisitions in its target markets and improving tenant demand, particularly in the industrial sector.
In Continental Europe, turnover grew by 20 per cent to £24.6m due to acquisitions in the retail sector, the re-opening of the EMKA Shopping Centre in Koszalin, Poland, following a successful refurbishment and the favourable impact of foreign exchange movements.
Group investment property increased to £1.41 billion from £1.26bn in 2017 and there were valuation gains of £63.9m, which represents a rise of five per cent.
Group acquisitions of property totalled £59.7m, predominantly where it saw opportunities to add value in the retail sector. £22.2m was in the UK and £37.5m in Continental Europe;
Additional investment of £25 million to upgrade and improve the existing portfolio, including ongoing works to create Prime Point, its speculative development of 130,000 sq ft of new industrial space at its flagship Pensnett Estate, KIngswinford,, which at 185 acres is one of the largest secure industrial estates in Europe and home to almost 200 companies.
Its retail portfolio has more than 6.4 million square feet and 310 sites and has a strong focus on the local and convenience shopping sector. LCP owns and manages a number of shopping centres including the Wulfrun Centre, Wolverhampton.
