Key acquisitions spearhead Harworth Group's “continued momentum in the business”

Harworth Group plc, the Rotherham-based property regeneration and investment specialist, has seen “continued momentum in the business” after reporting its interim results for the half year ending 30 June 2016.

During this period the Group, which owns and manages a portfolio of 150 sites located throughout the Midlands and North of England, completed four acquisitions totalling £12.8m. Among these deals was the 50% purchase of The Aire Valley Land LLP, which owns Temple Green, Leeds’ largest live logistics development.

Harworth also sold £13.3m of property in the first half of 2016, in a move that will allow it to “focus on sites with higher value-add potential.”

The Group reported that its net asset value has increased to £303m, which is a 10.4% increase from the £274.5m achieved last June.

Operating profit, however, was down to £8.3m from last year’s £9.2m value. Harworth claimed this decrease reflects a £2.9m impact from 2016 stamp duty changes.

Owen Michaelson, Harworth’s chief executive, said: “We have progressed well during the first half, seeing continued momentum in the business, which is reflective of the underlying strength of the Group.

“We selectively grew our direct commercial development capabilities, through schemes at Logistics North, the Advanced Manufacturing Park and Gateway 36, as well as making excellent progress with the forward funded M&G development.

“We have continued confidence in the economic potential of the regions in which we operate and the long term market fundamentals remains in place. Our strategy affords us flexibility to manage potential periods of uncertainty.

“Together with our strong balance sheet, we are robustly positioned to capitalise on new opportunities, both for development and income generation. Based on current market conditions, we expect our full-year performance to be in line with our expectations.”

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