Yorkshire property firm Harworth Group says financial results for 2021 are likely to be better than expected thanks to strong demand in the industrial and logistics sectors.
The Rotherham firm will announce full year results in March but says it has benefitted from “tailwinds of a buoyant land and occupational market, particularly in the industrial and logistics sector”. The company - which grew out of a former mining operator - is one of the UK’s leading land and regeneration operators, owning sites predominantly in the North and the Midlands.
Chief executive Lynda Shillaw said: “Harworth continued its strong momentum in the second half, as we stepped into our ambitious strategy to double the size of the business over the next five to seven years, and continued to deliver places where people want to live and work.
Read more: go here for more Yorkshire and Humber business news
“Our performance, combined with underlying market growth, has translated into a substantial year-on-year increase in EPRA NDV and Total Return.
“In addition to the significant progress made during the second half across planning, direct development, lettings and land sales, we agreed terms for the conditional sales of our Ansty strategic land site and Kellingley development site, at significant premiums to book value.
“The proceeds from these sales once completed, alongside the larger senior debt facility we are currently finalising, should provide us with additional firepower to deploy across our development sites and near-term acquisition pipeline.”
Harworth said its industrial and logistics pipeline had topped 28m sq ft by the end of 2021 while its residential pipeline was at nearly 31,000 plots.
It said it was well capitalised and net debt had dropped considerably during the year to £25.7m.
Harworth is now intending to deploy proceeds from sales and the funds provided by its new debt facilities to deliver a 3.2m sq ft industrial and logistics development, broaden the range of its residential products and scale up land acquisition.
