Year End Trading Update and Sale of Investment

RNS Number : 4085S

Town Centre Securities PLC

14 July 2022

 

This announcement contains inside information as defined in Article 7 of the EU Market Abuse Regulation No 596/2014 (as it forms part of UK domestic law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018) and has been announced in accordance with the Company's obligations under Article 17 of that Regulation. This announcement has been authorised for release by the  Board .

14 July 2022

Town Centre Securities PLC

(The 'Company' or 'Group' or 'TCS')

Year End Trading Update

Sale of Investment in YourParkingSpace Limited ('YPS')

Town Centre Securities PLC, the Leeds , Manchester, Glasgow and London property investment, development, car park and hotel operator, today provides a trading update for its financial year ended 30 June 2022, and announces the sale of its equity investment in YourParkingSpace Limited, the parking space platform.

Year End Trading Update

· Robust rent collections for the 24 March 2022 and 1 April 2022 quarter dates:

o  99.5% collected

o  0.1% agreed to be deferred and still outstanding

o  0.4% outstanding with no agreement with the tenant

· Car Park revenue back to 89.1% of pre-Covid 19 levels

· ibis Styles h otel occupancy levels remain significantly better than during the Covid period, and the hotel is on course to make its highest contribution to overall Group profits since 2017.

· Submission in April 2022 of the Whitehall Riverside Masterplan in conjunction with our joint venture partner, Glenbrook, which includes:

o  detailed planning applications for a 500 unit 'Build to Rent' scheme;

o  a 12-storey office building;

o  a 478-space multi-storey car park; and

o  an outline for further hotel/office buildings on the remainder of the site.

o  as part of the joint venture TCS is selling, subject to planning, the part of the site that relates to the 500 unit 'Build to Rent' scheme to Glenbrook. This sale, which is expected to complete in late summer will generate gross proceeds of £14.0m, which is approximately £5.0m above the 31 December 2021 carrying value of this part of the Whitehall Riverside site.

· TCS has also sold, subject to planning, its two Port Street, Manchester surface car parks, both of which form part of the Company's wider Piccadilly Basin development site. Completion of the sale is likely to occur in October 2022, subject to planning. The total consideration of £13.0m is not materially different to the 31 December 2021 carrying value of these properties.

· TCS also recently submitted a pre-application presentation to Leeds City Council in relation to the existing consented 100MC office building and a three-storey vertical extension to Wade House, both at the Merrion Centre, with a view to delivering a further 1,078 student accommodation units.

Edward Ziff, Chairman and Chief Executive commented:

"It has been another year of recovery for the business, with robust rent collection and further successes as we have sought to reset and reinvigorate our business for the future. Over the coming months we hope to be able to announce the completions of the Whitehall Riverside and Piccadilly basin development site sales. These sales, together with the YPS sale, will allow us to continue to strengthen the balance sheet of the Company through lowering our level of absolute debt and leverage, whilst investing in our development pipeline."

Sale of Investment in YourParkingSpace

The Company is delighted to announce the unconditional sale of its equity investment in YourParkingSpace Limited ("YPS") to Flowbird SAS for total cash consideration (net of fees and associated deal costs) of up to £20.7m (the "Sale").  The YPS platform connects drivers with over 350,000 privately owned and commercially operated parking spaces across the UK, available to book hourly, daily or monthly via the company's website or mobile app.

The consideration for the Sale comprises the following:

· Initial net cash consideration for the Company's equity shareholding of £9.6m

· Deferred consideration of £7.5m in aggregate, due in two instalments: £4.4m 12 months after completion of the sale, and £3.1m after 24 months

· A final contingent element of cash consideration, based on the trading performance of YPS in the 14 month period following completion of the Sale, of up to £3.6m

In addition, the Company will receive repayment in full (including all accrued interest) of the amounts loaned to YPS, comprising a gross cash receipt of £1.95m.

At 31 December 2021, the book value of the Company's investment in the YPS equity stake was £1.47m, with an additional £1.53m loan to YPS. The Sale will be accretive to both NTA and earnings for the Group, and the disposal proceeds will further reduce net borrowings and will be redeployed into other accretive opportunities in due course. As the Company holds a non-controlling interest in YPS, 31 August 2021 results were not consolidated into the Group accounts. As YPS is not consolidated, the Sale will not result in a Group deconsolidation.

Background to the YourParkingSpace investment

The Investment enabled the Company to further leverage its car parking assets through the YPS technology platform.

The Company's initial equity interest was acquired on 16 November 2016, through the acquisition of 9.375% of the issued share capital of YourParkingSpace Limited from the two founders of the business. This investment of £0.415m was funded from the Company's cash resources (the "Investment").

At that time the value of the gross assets the subject of the Investment was £0.415m. The Company's non-controlling interest in YPS was held at carrying value and was not consolidated into the Group accounts.

Under the terms of a separate option agreement the Company was then able to acquire further shares in YPS from the founders over the course of the following years - ultimately taking the cost of investment in YPS from £0.415m to £0.965m.

The TCS Board have relinquished their remaining seat on the Board of YPS as a result of the Sale.

Ben Ziff, Managing Director: CitiPark PLC | TCS Energy | Technology Investments commented:

"Since making our initial investment in YourParkingSpace in November 2016, the business has gone from strength to strength and has now evolved into much more than just an online broker for reselling space. It has become a true disruptor in the parking sector.

I wish YPS and its founders all the very best for the future and look forward to watching them evolve even further.

The consideration from this sale helps to further strengthen the TCS balance sheet whilst giving it the opportunity to invest in our development pipeline and make strategic technology investments.

TCS remains one of the most proactive land owners in the UK always thinking outside of the box and constantly striving for innovation with family business values at its core."

  -Ends-

For further information, please contact:

Town Centre Securities PLC                                                                          www.tcs-plc.co.uk / @TCS PLC

Edward Ziff, Chairman and Chief Executive                                                                          0113 222 1234 

Ben Ziff, Managing Director: CitiPark PLC, TCS Energy & Technology    

Stewart MacNeill, Group Finance Director

MHP Communications                                                                                                          [e-mail]

Reg Hoare / Pauline Guenot                                       020 3128 8567     

Liberum  www.liberum.com

Jamie Richards  / Lauren Kettle / Nikhil Varghese                                                              020 3100 2123

Peel Hunt                www.peelhunt.com

Carl Gough / Henry Nicholls                                                                                       020 3597 8673 / 8640

Notes to Editors:

Town Centre Securities PLC (TCS) is a Leeds & London based property investor, car park and hotel operator with assets of over £360m. With more than 60 years' experience, a commitment to sustainable development and a reputation for quality and innovation, TCS creates mixed use developments close to transport hubs in major cities across the UK.

For more information visit www.tcs-plc.co.uk

 

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