Strong operational performance and market tailwinds deliver record Total Return as Harworth steps into its growth strategy.
Harworth Group plc, a leading regenerator of land and property for sustainable development and investment, today announces its full year results for the year ended 31 December 2021.
“Harworth maintained its strong momentum throughout 2021, as we stepped into our ambitious strategy to reach £1bn of EPRA NDV over five to seven years. Our performance, combined with tailwinds in our end markets, has translated into a significant increase in EPRA NDV and our highest annual Total Return to date.
“In addition to the significant progress made in planning, direct development, lettings and land sales across our portfolio during the year, we agreed terms for the sales of our Ansty strategic land site and Kellingley development site, conditional on planning consent, at significant premiums to book value. The proceeds from these sales once completed, alongside the larger senior debt facility we have secured, will provide us with additional firepower to deploy across our development sites and acquisition pipeline.
“Our core sectors continue to perform well, but are not immune to wider macroeconomic pressures. Our focus now is on the execution of the strategy, ensuring that, as we work through our plans, the team has the skills and resources to deliver consistently and successfully, sustainably growing the business and delivering returns through the cycle. This will ensure that we continue to deliver places where people want to live and work.”
Lynda Shillaw, Chief Executive, Harworth Group plc
Strong returns, driven by active management and structural growth in our markets
- Total Return1 increased to 24.6% in 2021, from 3.0% in 2020
- EPRA NDV1 per share increased 23.5% to 197.6p as at 31 Dec 2021 (31 Dec 2020: 160.0p), driven by valuation gains, particularly for industrial & logistics sites, and planning and development progress
- EPRA NDV increased 23.6% to £637.5m as at 31 Dec 2021 (31 Dec 2020: £515.9m)
- Dividend per share saw an underlying increase of 10% to 1.2p, in line with our dividend policy
Progressing our 28.2m sq. ft industrial & logistics pipeline, through planning, sales and direct development
- Construction underway of 332,000 sq. ft of Grade A space at Bardon Hill, due to complete this summer
- Planning secured for 1.1m sq. ft of space at Wingates site in Bolton, with plans submitted for a further 2.8m sq. ft across sites at Skelton Grange, Leeds and Gascoigne Wood, North Yorkshire
- Conditionally exchanged on sales of strategic land site in Ansty, Warwickshire for £53.5m, and Kellingley site in Selby, North Yorkshire for £54.0m, at significant premiums to book value
Accelerating land sales and placemaking across our 30,804-plot residential pipeline
- Total plot sales of 1,411, (2020: 873) to nine different housebuilders
- Planning secured for 1,000-home mixed-use regeneration scheme at Ironbridge, Shropshire
Growing our strategic land portfolio and land promotion activities
- Completed £14.3m of site acquisitions, including a number of smaller sites as part of land assembly
- Freehold acquisitions of two strategic land sites: Rothwell, Northamptonshire, capable of delivering 1.5m sq. ft of industrial & logistics, and Staveley, Derbyshire, capable of delivering 600 new homes
Active year for lettings in our Investment Portfolio; operational metrics remain robust
- Available liquidity of £128.0m (31 Dec 2020: £62.7m) and net debt1 of £25.7m (31 Dec 2020: £71.2m)
- Net loan to portfolio value1 of 3.4% (31 Dec 2020: 11.5%); within target to be below 20% by year-end
- New five-year debt package agreed post year-end, increasing RCF to £200m with a £40m uncommitted accordion, with a new lender added to syndicate
New appointments bring significant additional expertise and strengthen senior leadership team
- Appointment of Chief Investment Officer, Chief Operating Officer, Head of Strategy, Investment & Business Development and Head of Mixed Tenure
Embedding ESG into everything we do through the Harworth Way
- ESG Board Committee formed to provide oversight of ESG strategy and activities
- Eight Focus Impact Areas established based on the three impact pillars of the Harworth Way: Communities, Planet and People, including a Net Zero Carbon target
Notes
(1) Harworth discloses both statutory and alternative performance measures (‘APMs’). A full description and reconciliation to the APMs is set out in Note 2 to the financial statements
(2) European Public Real Estate Association Net Disposal Value per share
(3) Total dividend per share in 2020 comprised a payment of 1.102p for 2020 supplemented by an additional payment of 0.698p representing the previously cancelled 2019 final dividend. The Ex-dividend date, Record date and Payment date for the 2021 final dividend can be found in the Shareholder Information section of this announcement