FLETCHER KING PLC — Earnings Release 2016

Jul 12, 2016

National Storage Mechanism | Additional information

You don't have Javascript enabled. For full functionality this page requires javascript to be enabled.

RNS Number : 8704D

Fletcher King PLC

12 July 2016

FLETCHER KING PLC

Preliminary Results for the Year Ending 30th April 2016

Highlights

·      Revenue for the year of  £4,633,000 (2015: £3,380,000)

·      Profit before tax of £1,355,000 (2015: £461,000)

·      Profit after tax of £1,060,000 (2015: £359,000)

·      Basic and diluted earnings per share of 11.51p (2015: 3.90p)

·      Final dividend of 1.00p per share. An interim dividend of 1.00p per share was paid together with a special dividend of 8.00p per share and therefore the total ordinary dividend for the year will be 10.00p per share (2015: 2.25p)

Commenting on the results, David Fletcher, chairman of Fletcher King Plc said:

"Our excellent performance this year was significantly influenced by the fees and profits earned on the sale of 145 Leadenhall Street, a property owned by the SHIPS 14 Syndicate in which the company co-invested and acted as adviser. The underlying business performed much in line with last year.

The unexpected vote to leave the EU has had a destabilising effect on the market and the uncertainties are likely to influence it for some time to come. However, with no debt and cash reserves, we are well placed to weather challenging times as we have done on numerous occasions in the past."

END

For further information, please call:

David Fletcher/ Peter Bailey, Fletcher King	020 7493 8400
James Caithie, Cairn Financial Advisers LLP	020 7148 7900

CHAIRMAN'S STATEMENT

Results

Revenue for the year was £4,633,000 (2015: £3,380,000). In addition, profit on disposal of property investments amounted to £593,000 (2015: £nil). Profit before tax was £1,355,000 (2015: £461,000).

The Board is proposing a final dividend of 1.00p per share. The final dividend is subject to shareholder approval at the AGM and will be paid on the 7 October 2016 to those shareholders on the register at close of business on 9 September 2016. With the interim dividend of 1.00p per share (2015: 1.50p per share) plus the special dividend of 8.00p per share already paid, the dividend for the year will amount to 10.00p per share (2015: 2.25p per share).

The Commercial Property Market

The market generally has seen reasonably strong demand from both tenants and investors. However this demand diminished somewhat in the lead up to the EU referendum. This was particularly noticeable in the investment market. The stamp duty increase of 1% didn't help and data from the Investment Property Databank (IPD) showed capital values in Q1 2016 falling for the first time for some years albeit by only 0.2%. UK investors have been net sellers in Q4 2015 and Q1 2016 and the outlook post Brexit is currently uncertain.

Business Overview

As reported in the Interim Results, our excellent performance this year was significantly influenced by the fees and profits earned on the sale of 145 Leadenhall Street, a property owned by the SHIPS 14 Syndicate in which the Group co-invested and acted as adviser. The sale of the property and the payment of a special dividend of 8p per share was announced on 1 September 2015.

During the year, we established two new SHIPS funds to acquire freehold office buildings in Botolph Lane adjacent to Monument Tube Station in the City and a building in Sekforde Street, Clerkenwell. They will become vacant by the end of 2016 when refurbishment works will commence. We anticipate having them available to let in 2017.

The underlying business continued to perform well with all departments performing much in line with last year. Valuation instructions increased significantly, reflecting increased bank lending to the commercial property sector. The Valuation Office has again slowed down settlement of Rating Appeals which affected turnover, but we still settled some significant assessments.

Outlook

We have started the year well and have completed the sale of over £50m of office and industrial investments.

The unexpected vote to leave the EU has had a destabilising effect on the market and the uncertainties are likely to influence it for some time to come.

Clients are delaying decisions to sell and purchase investment property and this is not helpful for our transaction business.

The effect of this is impossible to predict but we are debt free and have cash reserves. We are well placed to weather challenging times as we have done on numerous times in the past.

I hope that later in the year the market will establish a pattern and give confidence to our clients to move forward.

DAVID FLETCHER

CHAIRMAN

12 July 2016

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME

for the year ended 30 April 2016

	Note	2016	2015
		£000	£000
Revenue		4,633	3,380
Employee benefits expense		(2,640)	(1,843)
Depreciation expense		(34)	(36)
Other operating expenses		(1,230)	(1,057)
Operating profit		729	444
Profit on disposal of available for sale investments		593	-
Income from investments		22	4
Finance income		11	13
Profit before taxation		1,355	461
Taxation		(295)	(102)
Profit and total comprehensive income for the year attributable to equity shareholders		1,060	359
Basic and diluted earnings per share	3	11.51p	3.90p

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION

as at 30 April 2016

	2016	2015
	£000	£000
Assets
Non-current assets
Property, plant and equipment	50	84
Available-for-sale investments	1,274	875
Deferred tax assets	18	18
	1,342	977
Current assets
Trade and other receivables	871	1,149
Cash and cash equivalents	2,846	2,852
	3,717	4,001
Total assets	5,059	4,978
Liabilities
Current liabilities
Trade and other payables	346	516
Current taxation liabilities	282	78
Other payables	526	641
	1,154	1,235
Total liabilities	1,154	1,235
Shareholders' equity
Share capital	921	921
Share premium	140	140
Retained Earnings	2,844	2,682
Total shareholders' equity	3,905	3,743
Total equity and liabilities	5,059	4,978

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS

for the year ended 30 April 2016

	2016	2015
	£000	£000
Cash flows from operating activities
Profit before taxation from continuing operations	1,355	461
Adjustments for:
Depreciation expense	34	36
Profit on disposal of available for sale investments	593	-
Income from investments	(22)	(4)
Finance income	(11)	(13)
Cash flows from operating activities before movement in working capital
763	480
Decrease in trade and other receivables	284	98
Decrease in trade and other payables	(291)	(432)
Cash generated from operations	756	146
Taxation paid	(91)	(147)
Net cash flows from operating activities	665	(1)
Cash flows from investing activities
Purchase of fixed assets	-	(8)
Purchase of investments	(1,274)	(125)
Sale of investments	1,468	-
Finance income	11	13
Income from investments	22	4
Net cash flows from investing activities	227	(116)
Cash flows from financing activities
Dividends paid to shareholders	(898)	(345)
Net cash flows from financing activities	(898)	(345)
Net decrease in cash and cash equivalents	(6)	(462)
Cash and cash equivalents at start of year	2,852	3,314
Cash and cash equivalents at end of year	2,846	2,852

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN EQUITY

For the year ended 30 April 2016

	Note	Share capital	Share premium	Retained Earnings	TOTAL EQUITY
		£000	£000	£000	£000
Balance at 1 May 2014		921	140	2,668	3,729
Total comprehensive income for the year		-	-	359	359
Equity dividends paid	2	-	-	(345)	(345)
Balance at 30 April 2015		921	140	2,682	3,743
Total comprehensive income for the year		-	-	1,060	1,060
Equity dividends paid	2	-	-	(898)	(898)
Balance at 30 April 2016		921	140	2,844	3,905

NOTES

1. Basis of preparation

The financial information set out above, which has been prepared on the basis of the accounting policies as set out in the prior year's accounts, does not comprise the company's statutory financial statements for the year ended 30 April 2016.  While the financial information included in this preliminary announcement has been prepared in accordance with the recognition and measurement criteria of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs) as adopted by the European Union, this announcement does not itself contain sufficient information to comply with IFRSs. Statutory financial statements for the previous financial year ended 30 April 2015 have been delivered to the Registrar of Companies. The auditors' report on those financial statements was unqualified and did not contain any statement under section 498(2) or (3) of the Companies Act 2006 and did not include references to any matters to which the auditor drew attention by way of emphasis.  The statutory accounts for the year ended 30 April 2016 have not yet been delivered to the Registrar of Companies, nor have the auditors yet reported on them.

2.  Dividends

Year ended 30 April	2016	2015
	£000	£000
Equity dividends on ordinary shares:
Declared and paid during year
Ordinary final dividend for the year ended 30 April 2015: 0.75p per share (2014:  2.25p)	69	207
Special dividend for the year ended 30 April 2016: 8.00p per share Interim dividend for the year ended 30 April 2016: 1.00p per share (2015: 1.50p)	737 92	- 138
	898	345
Proposed ordinary final dividend for the year ended 30 April 2016: 1.00p per share	92

3. Earnings per share

	2016 No	2015 No
Weighted average number of shares for basic and diluted earnings per share	9,209,779	9,209,779
	£000	£000
Earnings for basic and diluted earnings per share	1,060	359
Basic and diluted earnings per share	11.51p	3.90p

This information is provided by RNS

The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

END

FR RBMFTMBABBIF