Land sale, credit facility and investment

RNS Number : 2208G

Inland Homes PLC

19 November 2015

 

Inland Homes plc

('Inland Homes' or the 'Company' or the 'Group')

Land sale, credit facility and investment in housebuilder

Inland Homes, the specialist housebuilder and brownfield developer today announces a number of important transactions.

HIGHLIGHTS

·      The sale of the major part of its site at the former RAF Stanbridge, to Catalyst Housing Association for £14 million

·      A Group subsidiary, Inland Homes Developments Ltd, has signed a £20 million revolving credit facility with Barclays Bank plc to fund much of the Group's housebuilding activities

·      The Group has taken a 25% stake in a new premium housebuilding company, Troy Homes Ltd, for an investment of £1 million

LAND SALE

The Group is pleased to report the unconditional sale of the major part of its site at the former RAF Stanbridge in Leighton Buzzard, Buckinghamshire, to Catalyst Housing Association for a consideration of £14 million, a sum significantly above book value.  Completion is due within 10 working days.

Inland Homes has retained 0.5 acres of the original site with planning permission for approximately 4,000 sq ft of commercial space which will be developed into a neighbourhood food store, where a pre-let has been agreed with a major food retailer.

A further small parcel of land has been retained which has future development potential.

REVOLVING CREDIT FACILITY

We are pleased to announce that one of the Group's subsidiaries, Inland Homes Developments Ltd, recently signed a new £20 million revolving credit facility with Barclays Bank plc (the "Facility"). The Facility has been put in place to finance the majority of the Group's housebuilding activities which were previously financed via single development loans. The Facility has released additional funds for working capital as the terms are more appropriate for a continuing operation than the previous loans and will result in significant cost of debt savings. The maturity date of 31 October 2019 reflects the Group's long term commitment to housebuilding and will be repaid in full at that time.

The Facility also anticipates that the Group's housebuilding programme will continue to grow and has an 'accordion facility', which gives the Group the option to draw a further £10 million if required, and the ability for additional lenders to be added with minimum inconvenience at a later date should we wish to expand beyond the scope of the Facility.

CORPORATE INVESTMENT

The Group is pleased to advise that it has taken a 25 per cent stake in a newly-formed premium housebuilding company, Troy Homes Ltd ("Troy Homes"), for gross consideration of £1 million.

A further £2 million will be available to Troy Homes via loan notes which will be interest bearing.

Troy Homes has been founded by Richard Werth who has been appointed CEO. Richard was formerly CEO of Banner Homes Group Limited, a substantial premium housebuilder until its takeover by Cala Homes Limited in March 2014. 

Stephen Wicks, Chief Executive of Inland, commented:

"Having recently announced record results by the Group, I am again delighted to report a number of important milestones in our continuing progress to be a major force in our sector.

"The sale of the Stanbridge site is a highly profitable transaction with further value still to come from both commercial and residential income.

We intend to build the pre-let store and hold the investment which will add approximately £68,000 per annum to our rental income.

"The revolving credit facility signed with Barclays will now provide longer term, more flexible funding for the Group's growing housebuilding programme.

"The investment in Troy Homes will enable the Group to have an interest in the premium housebuilding market via a very experienced management team."

Enquiries:
www.inlandplc.com AIM: Ticker: INL
Inland Homes plc	Stifel Nicolaus Europe Limited	Blytheweigh
Stephen Wicks, Chief Executive	Nominated Adviser & Broker	IR & Media Relations
Nishith Malde, Finance Director Paul Brett, Land Director	Corporate Finance: David Arch Roger Clarke	Tim Blythe Wendy Haowei George Yeomans
Tel: [phone]	Tel: [phone]	Tel: [phone]

Notes to Editors:

Inland Homes acquires brownfield land in the South and South-East of England principally for residentially led development schemes. The business then enhances the land value by obtaining planning permission, before building open market and affordable homes or selling surplus consented land to other developers to generate cash

 

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