Hansteen continues investment as earnings dip
PROPERTY investor Hansteen Holdings has said it will continue to hunt new acquisitions despite posting a sharp drop in annual pre-tax profits.
The FTSE 250 company, which owns and manages real estate in the UK and continental Europe, said pre-tax profits fell to £8.9m from £33.2m in 2010 after a fall in the value of the group’s property in the Netherlands and Belgium of £19.3m.
Adverse currency exchange movements on overseas assets also hit net asset value, which fell by 2p per share to 82p over 2011.
Hansteen, which has been expanding its UK portfolio, bought £150m of industrial properties from the Spencer Group in December, bringing total acquisitions for the year to £176m, against sales of £33m. The group’s rent roll rose 19.6 per cent to £79.3m per year with a yield of 8.3 per cent from 2,500 tenants.
Commenting on the property market, chairman James Hambro said: “The investment market for property is cyclical but the timing and depth of the cycles are unpredictable.”