Helical Bar points to recovery in regional property as profits soar
LONDON-FOCUSED property developer Helical Bar yesterday said it had made a record profit of £68.9m in the six months to the end of September.
The firm’s earnings jumped from £5.2m a year ago after it booked gains on the sale of 200 Aldersgate and its Brickfields site at White City.
Helical’s portfolio gained 3.5 per cent in value, or 2.3 per cent when sales and disposals are included.
Chief executive Michael Slade said the burgeoning economic recovery was starting to be felt in the property markets outside of London, putting the firm on track for further growth in the rest of the financial year.
“We are long both in central London offices and in high yielding secondary regional assets, the former to provide capital growth and the other to generate income and cash flow,” he said in a statement.
“This has been our aim and strategy for the last three years and I firmly believe we are reaping the rewards as London continues to grow and investors move up the risk curve and into the regions.”
Shares in the firm closed up 1.3 per cent yesterday.