Leeds property regeneration company reports "strong" results despite profits dip of £6m

A land and property regeneration company has reported that its profit has decreased £6m compared to 2018.

Harworth, which is based in Leeds, achieved profit excluding value gains of £3.5m in 2019, compared to £9.8m in 2018.

The company’s value gains were £44m, compared to 2018’s £51.3m.

It stated that the reduction was due to a “significant” £6.8m fee in 2018, as well as a reduction in coal fine income in 2019 as a result of the winding down of coal fired power stations.

It also said that progress was “tempered” by the impact of the May 2019 elections.

The company also reported that its total return was 7.8 per cent, down from 13.3 per cent in the previous year.

However, the firm said that it is delivering “strong” long-term results.

Harworth’s chief executive, Owen Michaelson, commented: “Five years on from Harworth’s listing on the Main Market, the group has continued to apply its role as master developer successfully on a range of complex sites across the Midlands and North to create places where people want to live and work.

“It has remained true to the underlying principles of sustainable development whilst also delivering strong long-term financial returns.

“Our move to a regional operating model has begun to yield firm results in 2019, with good progress made across all of our core regions in extending our future land pipeline through a mixture of freehold acquisitions, options and planning promotion agreements.

“Our overall pipeline now stands at 29,596 residential plots (9,554 plots already consented) and 24.4m sq. ft of commercial space (9.1m sq. ft already consented), its highest point since re-listing, providing the foundations for the continued long-term growth of the business.

“Notwithstanding this progress, the returns from large-scale sites like ours are not linear and this has been seen in the lower total return in 2019, primarily as a result of the planning headwinds at a local authority level that we reported through our interim results.”

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