Values edge up at Town Centre Securities
The 55,000 sq ft Go Outdoors store at Town Centre Securities' Piccadilly Basin in Manchester will open in April and two of the three remaining units are under offer, according to TCS chairman and chief executive Edward Ziff.
The Leeds-based Real Estate Investment Trust gave the update as part of its interims results for the six months to the end of December 2010.
TCS said underlying profit after tax was £4.4m compared to £2.5m for the same period of 2009. Net asset value rose from 269p a share on 30 June 2010 to 277p by the end of the year.
Gross borrowings at 31 December 2010 were £144.6m, compared to £141.8m in June 2010. Occupancy levels across the group's portfolio reached 95.6%, up from 93.2%.
Ziff said in his statement to the stock exchange: "We have reported a significant improvement in our underlying profitability. This follows continued focus on reducing occupancy voids and the rebasing of our operating costs and interest charges.
"We are confident that our focus on value for money retailing will drive our future income generation and continue to under pin the strength of the business and sustain our dividend. In 2010 TCS was the best performing REIT, based on total shareholder returns of 30.9% including dividend reinvestment."
An interim dividend of 3.10p a share is proposed (2009: 3.02p).
Shares in TCS were up nearly 5% at 178p at 9:45am.
