Rising real estate values push Grosvenor to profit
THE DUKE of Westminster’s Grosvenor Properties swung into profit last year, the firm announced yesterday, as an uplift in property valuations propelled its recovery.
The firm posted a pre-tax profit of £394.8m for 2010, from a £235.8m loss the previous year. Total assets rose 2.7 per cent to £4.2bn while net assets rose 5.8 per cent to £2.6bn.
Gross rents for the firm, which owns swathes of Mayfair and Belgravia, declined 10.6 per cent to £284m. But revenue profit, which Grosvenor views as the best measure of its underlying performance, rose 3.2 per cent to £64.2m.
The company said it plans to reinvest in development projects to benefit from the continued rise in property values following two years of losses, as well as beefing up its fund management business.