UIL Ltd. — Interim / Quarterly Report 2022

Jan 31, 2022

National Storage Mechanism | Additional information

RNS Number : 1426A

Ace Liberty & Stone PLC

31 January 2022

Ace Liberty and Stone plc

(''Ace'' or "the Company'')

INTERIM RESULTS FOR SIX MONTHS TO 31 OCTOBER 2021

Ace Liberty and Stone plc, the active property investment company, capitalising on commercial property investment opportunities across the UK, is delighted to announce Interim Results for the period from 1 May 2021 to 31 October 2021. 

Highlights:

·      Pre-tax profit increased by 12.1% to £754,911 (H1 2021) from £673,511 (H1 2020)

·      Rental income slightly reduced by 3.3% in a difficult trading period. Down from £2,985,965 (H1 2020) to £2,887,723 (H1 2021)

•      Rent deferrals granted to four main tenants in the leisure industry have now been collected in full.

•      Three properties sold since 30 April 2021 to achieve a profit of £2,800,000 over purchase price.

Ismail Ghandour, Chief Executive Officer, commented:

"At a time when property valuations are under pressure from valuers, Ace has sold three properties for a profit of £2.8m - a profit of nearly 35% on original cost."

Chairman's statement

I am pleased to announce the Company's interim results for the half year ended 31 October 2021. The Company has performed strongly in very difficult circumstances. Turnover at £2,887,723 for the half year is down by 3.3% on the comparable value for the previous year of £2,985,965. A number of factors impact on this, notably the sales and acquisitions of properties and the CVA protection sought by a tenant which temporarily reduced the rent payable. Total comprehensive income for the period is £741,673 compared to the result of £590,739 in the prior interim period, an increase of 25.6%.

During the period under review Ace completed the sales of Hillcrest House, Leeds and Bridge House, Dudley. The former was sold for £2,300,000 against a purchase price in November 2013 of £1,450,000 and the latter for £5,100,000 against a purchase price in April 2015 of £4,100,000. Subsequent to the balance sheet date, the Company completed the sale of Willow and Holly Court, Plymouth, which cost £3,500,000 in April 2016, for £4,450,000. The directors seek to maintain a prudent balance between profiting on property sales and maintaining a consistent income stream. These three sales realise a total profit of £2,800,000 on assets costing £9,050,000. As opportunities arise, the directors will consider making further selective sales to unlock the value in the balance sheet.

The purchasers of Hillcrest House and Bridge House elected to acquire the share capital of the subsidiary company owning each asset and this impacts the entries shown on the statement of comprehensive income. The properties have been valued at sale price in previous balance sheets and shown as assets held for sale.

The directors have prudently made a small revaluation of £100,000 loss against Willow House, Aldershot to reflect market conditions.

The Company has weathered the economic effects of the Covid pandemic in good shape. Four major tenants in the leisure industry were forced to stop or curtail their business activities and negotiated deferrals of some of their rent liabilities. In the period since the balance sheet date, all have been brought up to date with no write-offs. Some of the smaller businesses in the Sunderland and Margate properties have been slow to make up their arrears.

The loan facility advanced by Lloyds Banking Group in 2016 reached maturity in November 2021 and has been temporarily rolled over while a new facility is put in place. Discussions in this respect are ongoing but proceeding well. The loan currently stands at £15,586,931, secured on assets in the balance sheet at £40,637,866.

The following statistics are key to the Company's activities at 31 October 2021:

a)     Portfolio Loan to Value is 50% (H1 2020: 53%)

b)    Weighted Average Unexpired Lease to Break is 7.03 years (H1 2020: 6.94 years)

c)     57% of tenants are government bodies (H1 2020: 57%); 42% are triple-A commercial (H1 2020:42%)

The Company suspended dividend payments in January 2020 as a result of the uncertainties stemming from the effects of the Covid-19 virus. The directors keep this under constant review and will resume payments as soon as circumstances permit. The directors value the support given by the shareholders which improves the long term strength of the Company.

The directors believe that the Company's prospects are excellent. It has survived a period of unprecedented difficulty without serious harm. The portfolio is sound, producing a solid income and cash flow, and poised to benefit from improvements in the UK economy.

Dr Tony Ghorayeb

Chairman

27 January 2022

Unaudited group statement of comprehensive income

for the six months ended 31 October 2021

	Six months ended 31 October 2021 (Unaudited)	Six months ended 31 October 2020 (Unaudited)	Year ended 30 April 2021 (Audited)
	GBP	GBP	GBP
Turnover	2,887,723	2,985,965	6,227,124
Administrative expenses	(579,241)	(753,944)	(1,406,526)
Fair value losses on investment property	-	-	(500,000)
Fair value gains / (losses) on assets held for sale	(100,00)	(200,000)	(200,000)
Loss on disposal of subsidiary	(314,800)	-	-
Finance cost	(1,550,156)	(1,389,010)	(3,021,065)
Finance income	411,385	30,500	286,539
Profit for the period	754,911	673,511	1,386,072
Taxation	(215,540)	(91,655)	(176,024)
Profit after taxation	539,371	581,856	1,210,048
Other comprehensive income	202,302	8,883	8,883
Total comprehensive income for the period	741,673	590,739	1,218,931

Earnings per share - profit after tax*
	pence*	pence*	pence*
Basic	0.92	0.99	2.07
Diluted	0.72	0.78	1.63
Earnings per share - total comprehensive income on redemption and rollover of CLNs	pence	pence	pence
Basic	1.26	1.01	2.08
Diluted	0.99	0.79	1.64

*Unaudited

Unaudited group statement of changes in equity for the six months ended 31 October 2021	Share capital	Share premium	Other reserve	Treasury shares	Retained earnings	Total equity
	£	£	£	£	£	£
Balance at 30 April 2020	14,626,463	16,773,712	211,185	(480,620)	(144,608)	30,986,132
Total comprehensive income for the period
Profit for the period	-	-	-	-	1,242,981	1,242,981
Other comprehensive income	-	-	-	-	8,883	8,883
	-	-	-	-	1,251,864	1,251,864
Transactions with owners
Value of conversion rights on convertible notes	-	-	(8,883)	-	-	(8,883)
	-	-	(8,883)	-	-	(8,883)
Balance at 31 October 2020	14,626,463	16,773,712	202,302	(480,620)	1,107,256	32,229,113
Total comprehensive deficit for the period
Loss for the period	-	-	-	-	(32,933)	(32,933)
Other comprehensive income	-	-	-	-	-	-
	-	-	-	-	(32,933)	(32,933)
Transactions with owners
Value of conversion rights on convertible notes	-	-	-	-	-	-
	-	-	-	-	-	-
Balance at 30 April 2021	14,626,463	16,773,712	202,302	(480,620)	1,074,323	32,196,180
Total comprehensive income for the period
Profit for the period	-	-	-	-	539,371	539,371
Other comprehensive income	-	-	-	-	202,302	202,302
	-	-	-	-	741,673	741,673
Transactions with owners
Shares issued during the period	62,500	137,500	-	-	-	200,000
Value of conversion rights on convertible notes	-	-	(202,302)	-	-	(202,302)
Equity element of new issue on convertible notes	-	-	208,600	-	-	208,600
	62,500	137,500	6,298	-	-	206,298
Balance at 31 October 2021	14,688,963	16,911,212	208,600	(480,620)	1,815,996	33,144,151

Unaudited group statement of financial position
at 31 October 2021
	At 31 October 2021  (Unaudited)	At 31 October 2020 (Unaudited)	At 30 April 2021 (Audited)
	GBP	GBP	GBP
ASSETS
Non-current assets
Investment properties	79,706,639	78,391,081	79,706,639
Investments	5,000,680	-	5,000,680
Deferred tax	223,541	45,054	223,541
Derivative financial instrument	3,293	-	-
	84,934,153	78,436,135	84,930,860
Current assets
Assets held for sale	3,050,000	10,229,921	10,229,921
Deferred tax	76,000	-	-
Trade and other receivables	628,090	1,042,425	1,347,471
Cash and cash equivalents	1,309,086	7,509,091	2,913,363
	5,063,176	18,781,437	14,490,755
TOTAL ASSETS	89,997,329	97,217,572	99,421,615
EQUITY AND LIABILITIES
Current Liabilities
Liabilities relating to assets held for sale	1,227,563	1,317,063	1,272,313
Trade and other payables	3,326,249	6,314,559	7,311,567
Taxation	540,714	226,726	458,542
Borrowings	32,168,011	12,685,633	37,716,654
Derivative financial instrument	16,472	-	77,601
Deferred tax	-	-	83,487
	37,279,009	20,543,981	46,920,164
Non-current liabilities
Borrowings	19,574,169	44,444,478	19,958,927
Derivative financial instrument	-	-	346,344
	19,574,169	44,444,478	20,305,271
EQUITY
Issued capital and reserves
Share capital	14,688,963	14,626,463	14,626,463
Share premium reserve	16,911,212	16,773,712	16,773,712
Other reserve	208,600	202,302	202,302
Treasury shares	(480,620)	(480,620)	(480,620)
Retained earnings	1,815,996	1,107,256	1,074,323
Total equity attributable to owners of the parent	33,144,151	32,229,113	32,196,180
TOTAL EQUITY AND LIABILITIES	89,997,329	97,217,572	99,421,615

Unaudited Group cash flow statement

for the six months ended 31 October 2021

Six months ended 31 October 2021 (Unaudited)	Six months ended 31 October 2020 (Unaudited)	Year ended 30 April 2021 (Audited)
	GBP	GBP	GBP
Profit before tax	754,911	673,511	1,386,072
Cash flow from operating activities
Adjustments for:
Finance income	(411,385)	(30,500)	(286,539)
Finance costs	1,550,156	1,389,010	3,021,065
Fair value adjustment	100,00	200,000	700,000
Loss on disposal of subsidiary	314,800	-	-
Increase / (decrease) in receivables	110,122	(76,728)	(257,448)
(Decrease) / increase in payables	(394,859)	628,581	776,239
Tax paid	(5,659)	(3,050)	(4,936)
Interest paid	(1,069,446)	(1,411,157)	(2,617,709)
Other financial costs paid	(17,320)	(7,750)	(17,800)
Net cash generated by operating activities	931,320	1,361,917	2,698,944
Cash flows from investing activities
Interest received	619	30,500	49,359
Purchase of investment properties	-	(1,680,034)	(3,619,918)
Sale of investment properties	-	-	500,000
Sale of subsidiaries	3,241,484	-	-
Investment into LiBank	-	-	(5,000,680)
Net cash generated / (used) by investing activities	3,242,103	(1,649,534)	(8,071,239)
Cash flows from financing activities
Long term loans advanced	-	670,000	1,525,000
Long term loan repaid	(382,100)	(6,250)	(372,300)
Short term loans repaid	(5,395,600)	(300,000)	(300,000)
Equity dividend paid	-	-	-
Net cash (used) / generated by financing activities	(5,777,700)	363,750	852,700
Net (decrease) / increase in cash and cash equivalents	(1,604,277)	76,133	(4,519,595)
Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the period	2,913,363	7,432,958	7,432,958
Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the period	1,309,086	7,509,091	2,913,363

The interim financial information set out herein does not constitute full financial statements within the meaning of Section 240 of the Companies Act 2006. The interim results have not been audited or reviewed by the Company's auditors. The unaudited interim results have been prepared under the historical cost convention, in accordance with the Companies Act 2006 and applicable accounting standards in the United Kingdom.

The interim report has been prepared using accounting policies consistent with those set out in the Company's Annual Report and Accounts for the period to 30 April 2021. Those financial statements were prepared on a going concern basis.

The interim report for the six months to 31 October 2021 was approved by the Board on 27 January 2022

The Directors of Ace Liberty & Stone Plc accept responsibility for this announcement.

Notes to Editors

Ace Liberty & Stone Plc is a property investment company with a diverse portfolio of properties located across the UK, currently including Sunderland, Leicester, Margate, Barnstaple, and Manchester. The Company locates commercial properties with Triple-A tenants which have the potential for an increase in value.  Ace has maintained a track record of generating strong profits at disposal of properties and achieving better-than-average returns on capital which are in turn utilised to underwrite an increasing dividend flow to shareholders. With strong support from shareholders and mortgage lenders, the Company is currently seeking further investment opportunities in the UK to create value for existing and new investors.

Ace is run by a board with extensive property experience, an excellent network of contacts and relevant professional qualifications. This sector expertise allied to a flexible decision-making process has allowed the Board to identify promising opportunities and act promptly to secure investments.

For more information on the Company please visit www.acelibertyandstone.com

For further information, please contact:

Ace Liberty & Stone Plc
Ivan Minter, Financial Director	Tel: +44 (0) 20 7201 8340
	http://acelibertyandstone.com
Alfred Henry Corporate Finance Ltd, AQSE Growth Market Corporate Adviser
Jon Isaacs / Nick Michaels	Tel: +44 (0) 20 3772 0021
SP Angel Corporate finance LLP Broker
Vadim Alexandre /  Rob Rees		Tel: +44 (0)20 3861 6625

- Ends -

This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact [email protected] or visit www.rns.com.

RNS may use your IP address to confirm compliance with the terms and conditions, to analyse how you engage with the information contained in this communication, and to share such analysis on an anonymised basis with others as part of our commercial services. For further information about how RNS and the London Stock Exchange use the personal data you provide us, please see our Privacy Policy.

END

NEXGCGDBUSXDGDB