Member Article

Profits up at McKay after ‘period of substantial progress’ despite market recovery

McKay Securities has seen profit increase by more than a third as it continues to invest the proceeds from the Capital Raising from earlier in the year into new acquisitions and ongoing projects.

The property company, which specialises in commercial space in London and the South East, reported an increase of adjusted pre-tax profit of 33.8 per cent to £3.96m for the six month period to 30th September 2015.

The company’s portfolio is valued at £389.63m, up 7.1 per cent from £14.8m for the same period in 2014.

The £86.71m proceeds from the Capital Raising earlier in the year have been invested in new acquisitions and refurbishment projects or allocated to McKay’s development programme.

The results reveal a 20.8 per cent increase in rental income for the period, which was the main contributor to the 33.8 per cent increase in adjusted profit before tax.

In terms of market recovery, within the office and industrial markets of London and the South East, McKay said the supply of new and Grade A floor space has continued to reduce and is at increasingly ‘constrained’ levels.

David Thomas, chairman of McKay Securities PLC, said: “ This has been a period of substantial progress on many fronts arising from our strategic decision in early 2014 to take advantage of the anticipated improvements in the office and industrial markets of the South East and London. The £86.71 million proceeds from the Capital Raising at that time have been successfully invested in new acquisitions and refurbishment projects or allocated to our development programme. The benefits of these investments are becoming increasingly apparent.

Although our South East and London markets have been in recovery for a number of years, the outlook remains positive. This is based on the constrained supply of new and Grade A stock and consistent levels of occupier demand. With continued economic growth, this encouraging balance looks set to be maintained, supporting the release of significant potential from the portfolio and in particular from our development programme of prime buildings.

The management team remains focused on these priorities and the continued delivery of our strategy to release this potential.“

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ellen Forster .