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This time last year, the active property investment Company, capitalising on commercial property investment opportunities across the UK, had a portfolio approaching £30m. 2017 was a year of intense activity in terms of property investment as well as attracting a wide range of financing facilities. Ace remains invested in properties where it can add value rapidly (new tenants, change of use etc) but is balancing this through adding properties with solid long-term rental income. The relatively fixed cost base should allow for continued growth in profits and cash generation from rental income alone, as portfolio additions are made.
Ace Liberty & Stone Plc
The active property investment Company, capitalising on commercial property investment opportunities across the UK, has updated on two property transactions. The first is the sale of Bridge House Luton for £4.55m against the November 2014 purchase price of £2.75m, an uplift of 65% in a little over two years during which time the Company has enjoyed an annual yield of just over 10%. Ace has also announced the termination of the proposed sale of Hume House Leeds which had been agreed at £3.55m with the purchaser being unable to complete the deal. Ace retains full ownership of the building which is occupied by the Department of Work and Pensions and earns an annual rental income of £188k. The property is located in Central Leeds and Ace remains convinced the current market will provide an opportunity to sell the property in the near future which we understand is an attractive redevelopment opportunity for the right buyer.
The active property investment Company, capitalising on commercial property investment opportunities across the UK has released final results for the year ending 30 April 2016. The group’s property holdings grew 23% in the period to £29.5m with NAV attributable to shareholders growing by 45% to £17.9m despite the Board’s decision to reduce the valuation due to current uncertainty. Revenue increased 70% to £2m reflecting growth in a high quality tenant base. This was offset somewhat by an increase in overheads and interest payments reflecting the growing scale of the Company, which generated £421k in cash from operations in the period. The Board has taken a prudent approach to its portfolio valuation with assets held for sale being valued at £600k less than anticipated, due to certain disposals not being completed by the year end, the delay in part due to uncertainty stemming the UK’s EU referendum. Consequently, profits have been impacted with PBT of £612k vs £1.06m. The Board is seeing signs of improved activity in the market and expects that these write downs will reverse as the backlog of transactions clears. We believe the current market also provides a supportive backdrop for further opportunistic property purchases and Ace is targeting an enlargement of the portfolio to £50m without further shareholder investment.
Ace Liberty & Stones’ activities to capitalise on UK commercial property investment opportunities are continuing at a decent pace as shown by this week’s property transactions.
Ace Liberty & Stones’ focus on regional commercial property has enabled its portfolio to benefit from attractive rental yields, whilst being able to realise supernormal profits from asset sales after relatively short holding periods. With London seemingly overheating (prime yields of circa 4%) there is better value to be had in the regions and we are seeing a marked uplift in investment flows into the UK’s major regional centres. Indeed most of Ace’s core holdings are yielding above 9% with Princegate House in Doncaster yielding 23%.
