Interim Results & Chairman's Statement
PANTHER SECURITIES PLC
29 October 1999
CHAIRMAN'S STATEMENT
Introduction
I have pleasure in presenting the interim figures for the six months to 30
June 1999. In this period pre-tax profit was £1,630,000 compared to
£2,337,000 for the same period last year, however those figures included a
significantly higher proportion of profit on one-off transactions. Profit
attributable to members in the current half has been enhanced by 30% to almost
£1.3 million due to a much lower tax charge.
Rents received during the period fell by £55,000 to £2,128,000. This
reduction was wholly due to the surrender of the leases on the Glasgow
property, to which I refer below. However, rent receipts will increase
substantially by the year end following the Northstar acquisition.
Main Events
In January we received a reverse premium in excess of £800,000 in respect of
the surrender of various leases on our office building at Elmbank Chambers,
Glasgow. This gives us the opportunity of renovation prior to re-letting.
Towards the end of June we completed the acquisition of Northstar Properties
Limited, Northstar Investment Limited and Northstar Land Limited. This
acquisition is reflected in the interim Balance Sheet, but it has no effect on
the profit for the half year. The Northstar Group portfolio of properties,
which were valued for the transaction at £8,000,000, produces a net rental
income of £960,000 per annum. Because it was an acquisition of the companies,
we assumed existing bank loans of £5,560,000 and our actual cash outlay was
approximately £2,260,000.
Set out below is a brief summary of the Northstar portfolio.
The Triangle Shopping Centre, Brackla, Bridgend, South Wales
32,000 square feet, single storey, out of town shopping centre producing
£306,000 per annum anchored by the Co-operative Society.
The Market Place, Mildenhall, Suffolk
A town centre shopping precinct of approximately 32,000 square feet held
from the Local Council on a 125 year lease from 1973 at a geared ground
rent. The net rent receivable is approximately £163,000 per annum
anchored by Somerfield and other multiple tenants.
Langdale Court, Market Square, Witney, Oxfordshire
A shop/office development of approximately 14,000 sq ft held on a 125
year lease at a fixed peppercorn from 1985 and producing £193,000 per
annum exclusive.
Wembley Factory Estate
This factory estate is in Wembley, Greater London, the major part of
which is freehold and comprises 55,000 square feet producing £176,000 per
annum. The remaining 17,000 square feet produces £65,000 per annum
(after ground rent) and is held on a 125 year, geared ground lease.
Maidenhead, Berkshire
This single storey industrial/office building in Maidenhead comprising
approximately 15,000 square feet which is let to a major company at a
current rent of £58,400 per annum exclusive with a rent review due in
March 2000.
Additionally, a 26 acre freehold site in Sussex and a 12.5 acre freehold
former sports ground in Birmingham, close to the National Exhibition
Centre are included in our purchase, although no significant value has
been attributed to these two sites.
We believe this high yielding portfolio will serve us well over future years.
Panther House Redevelopment
We are revising our proposals for the redevelopment as, without reference to
ourselves, the Council has created a conservation area incorporating most of
Mount Pleasant, parts of Grays Inn Road and the Hatton Garden area. Panther
House, Mount Pleasant has been classified as a building of special interest,
which means we are unable to demolish (except in exceptional circumstances).
We already have planning permission for a complete and extensive refurbishment
of Panther House with a two floor extension and this permission is valid and
remains unaffected by the conservation area limitations. The permission
provides for a building with a gross floor area of 64,000 sq ft and a net
floor area of 43,500 sq ft of pure offices and, as the Grays Inn Road frontage
contains no buildings of special interest, a new building is being planned
which could link to Panther House when refurbished.
Whilst this conservation area status will delay matters, every cloud has its
silver lining. Because the Local Authority has instructed outside agents to
advise them on a number of buildings in their ownership (which either adjoin
or are close to our site) with a view to considering their options for
improvement of the area, they may find they will have surplus properties which
could increase the size of our potential development site. However, the
properties on the site are practically fully let, producing a good income, and
are carried in our books at investment value only without taking account of
potential development value.
Bristol Redevelopment
In my last statement to shareholders I mentioned that we were preparing a new
scheme for a single superstore rather than redevelopment of half our site.
The planning process for this development is now progressing well and we are
also expanding the size of the scheme to approximately 75,000 sq ft of new
space to include adjoining vacant Council-owned land. To date the Local
Authority, planners and local community are showing enthusiasm for our
proposals which is extremely encouraging.
Additional Property News
In August 1999 we sold 9/11 St James Street, Nottingham for a figure of
£1,075,000. This property was vacant for some considerable time and
shareholders may recall that previously we had a conditional sale of this
property which fell through. Although negotiations were protracted, the final
outcome is extremely satisfactory with the property being sold at a figure 23%
in excess of the March 1999 valuation. We further sold a property at 348 City
Road, London for £375,000, which represents 25% above its March 1999
valuation. Both these sales were after 30 June 1999 and profits will be
reflected in our full year figures.
We have recently let 11,800 sq ft of offices at Neil House, Whitechapel Road,
London at a rent of £10 per sq ft, being twice the rental value of the offices
when we purchased the property at the end of 1994. Whilst an extra £118,000
per annum rent is welcome, further benefits will accrue in the saving of
approximately £50,000 per annum in vacant rates and service charges previously
borne by the Company.
Dividends
An interim dividend of 2.5p per share (compared to 2p last year) will be paid
on 3 December 1999 and it is your Board's intention to recommend a final
dividend of 3.5p per share for the year ending 31 December 1999.
Warrants
Our warrants, which entitle a holder to subscribe for one new Panther ordinary
share per warrant at a price of 140p per share, are due to expire 31 days
after posting the Accounts for 31 December 1999 and your Board are proposing
to submit a resolution to shareholders and warrant holders (at the next
shareholders meeting) to extend the 'life' of the warrants by a period of 3
years.
Prospects
The property market is still buoyant with a high level of activity in the
letting and investment market. The Company currently maintains substantial
cash balances and a comparatively low gearing. We are constantly seeking
interesting and profitable acquisitions and continue to look forward to the
future with confidence.
Andrew S. Perloff
Chairman 29 October 1999
Panther Securities P.L.C.
UNAUDITED INTERIM CONSOLIDATED RESULTS
for the six months ended 30th June 1999
Six months to Six months to Year ended
30th June 30th June 31st December
1999 1998 1998
Notes (Unaudited) (Unaudited) (Audited)
£000 £000 £000
Turnover 2,950 3,104 5,510
Cost of sales (463) (895) (1,351)
------- ------- -------
Gross profit 2,487 2,209 4,159
Administrative expenses (342) (396) (763)
------- ------- -------
Operating profit 2,145 1,813 3,396
Profit on sale of investment
property - 1,079 1,079
Income from participating
interests 129 132 80
Interest receivable 155 187 420
Interest payable (799) (874) (1,739)
------- ------- -------
Profit on ordinary activities
before taxation 1,630 2,337 3,236
Taxation (329) (1,344) (1,514)
------- ------- -------
Profit on ordinary activities
after taxation 1,301 993 1,722
Minority interests (4) - (12)
------- ------- -------
Profit attributable to members
of the parent undertaking 1,297 993 1,710
Dividends 3 (452) (362) (1,086)
------- ------- -------
Retained profit for the year 845 631 624
Realisation of property
revaluation gains - 2,715 2,716
Retained profit brought forward 8,515 5,175 5,175
------- ------- -------
Retained profit carried forward 9,360 8,521 8,515
------- ------- -------
Earnings per share
- basic 4 7.2p 5.5p 9.5p
- fully diluted 6.7p 5.1p 8.9p
Notes:
1. Results
The six months results have been prepared on the historical cost basis,
modified to include the revaluation of fixed asset land and buildings,
although no further revaluation has been undertaken on any part of the
property portfolio since results were last reported. They are unaudited
and do not constitute statutory accounts within the meaning of section
240 of the Companies Act 1985.
2. Accounts
The figures for the year to 31st December 1998 have been extracted from
the statutory accounts which have been reported on by the Group's
auditors and have been delivered to the Registrar of Companies. The
auditor's report was unqualified and did not contain any statement under
section 237(2), (3) or (4) of the Companies Act 1985.
3. Dividends
An interim dividend of 2.5p per ordinary share will be paid on 3rd
December 1999 to shareholders on the Register on 12th November 1999.
4. Earnings per share
Earnings per ordinary share have been calculated on profit attributable
to members of the holding company and on 18,094,164 (June 1998 -
18,092,886) ordinary shares being the weighted average number of ordinary
shares in issue throughout the six months ended 30th June 1999.
5. Copies of this report are to be sent to all shareholders and are
available from the Company's registered office at Panther House, 38 Mount
Pleasant, London WC1X 0AP.
Panther Securities P.L.C.
UNAUDITED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEET
as at 30th June 1999
30th June 30th June 31st December
1999 1998 1998
(Unaudited) (Unaudited) (Audited)
£000 £000 £000
Fixed assets
Intangibles (125) - -
Tangibles 48,203 35,436 40,198
Investments 1,399 1,349 1,269
------- ------- -------
49,477 36,785 41,467
Current assets
Stock 4,833 4,959 4,816
Debtors 1,713 1,154 1,078
Cash at bank and in hand 3,363 5,231 4,183
------- ------- -------
9,909 11,344 10,077
Current liabilities
Creditors:
Amounts falling due within
one year (5,753) (4,113) (4,000)
------- ------- -------
Net current assets 4,156 7,231 6,077
------- ------- -------
Total assets less current
liabilities 53,633 44,016 47,544
Creditors:
Amounts falling due after
more than one year (24,153) (19,235) (18,913)
------- ------- -------
29,480 24,781 28,631
Minority interests (135) (140) (131)
------- ------- -------
Net assets 29,345 24,641 28,500
------- ------- -------
Capital and reserves
Share capital 4,524 4,523 4,524
Revaluation reserve 11,297 7,442 11,297
Profit and loss account 9,360 8,521 8,515
Share premium account 2,856 2,856 2,856
Negative goodwill reserve 1,037 1,028 1,037
Capital redemption reserve 271 271 271
------- ------- -------
Shareholders' funds 29,345 24,641 28,500
------- ------- -------
Net assets per share 162.2p 136.2p 157.5p