Property managers Shaftesbury Capital saw their shares surge this morning after the company agreed to sell a 25% interest in the Covent Garden estate to the Norwegian sovereign wealth fund. The transaction values the estate at £2.7bn with expected gross cash of £570m to be received in April. The transaction is expected to be earnings enhancing with a number of options for the proceeds including paying down debt and new acquisitions. The Shaftesbury Capital share price was up by more than 11% shortly after the open.
A pre-close trading statement from Investec was published this morning. The numbers here were largely upbeat with adjusted operating profits set to be 5%-12% ahead of the comparative and the cost to income ratio is falling but a drop in basic EPS as a result of some tough comparatives appears to be dominating interest. The Investec share price was down 5% in early trade.
A trading update was published by Crest Nicholson this morning ahead of their capital markets day. This notes a strong start to the year with an open market sales rate of 0.61, up from a comparative of 0.5, putting the company on course to deliver FY results in line with guidance and the cash performance is tracking better than expected over the first four months. Management notes signs of progress from operational and sales improvement initiatives and this appears to have resonated well with investors. The Crest Nicholson share price was almost 10% higher by 8.30am.
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