Part of the existing shopping centre and car parking facilities will be transformed into three hundred new homes, 46,479 sq. ft. of additional commercial space, a new community facility and a multi-storey car park.
In addition to the raw revenue these new property and amenity assets will generate, the Company told investors that the value of the asset as a whole will be increased by the increased footfall these changes will create.
“Having squeezed the week’s political developments for all they were worth on Wednesday, the pound started Thursday in a far more cautious mood.”
“With the Benn bill – requiring the government to ask Brussels for a 3-month extension if it fails to either reach a deal with the EU by October 19th or gain parliamentary approval for no-deal by that same date – set to be pushed through all stages of parliament before it is suspended next week, potentially gaining royal assent as soon as Monday, the pound was free to cement yesterday’s gains.”
“That means it is just under $1.222 against the dollar and €1.08 against the euro, dipping slightly from Wednesday’s highs. This Thursday reticence likely stems from the uncertainties regarding an election; though Boris Johnson last night failed in his attempts to force a trip to the polling booth on October 15th, a snap vote is still in play.”
“Following a market-wide rally in Asia, the Eurozone indices leapt higher after the bell, as the US and China agreed to further trade talks in mid-October. Given we have been here umpteen times before, the gains were on the shyer side – at least compared to previous trade development surges – with the DAX and CAC rising 0.6% apiece. The Dow Jones is set to climb the same amount later this after, a move that will push it above 26500 for the first time in over a month.”
“The FTSE, however, failed to join in with these gains. Instead the UK index tumbled 0.2%, assumedly annoyed by the strength of sterling’s rally on Wednesday.”
So, market indices didn’t fall for empty promises in regard to a Sino-US resolution. We can hope Sterling continues its progress in afternoon trading, currently at 1.12 against the Euro. Other news and macro financial updates have come from; Parliament being prorogued, No-Deal Brexit preparations, UK GDP during the second quarter, the London Stock Exchange Group (LON: LSE), the US-China currency manipulation debacle, and analysts’ outlook for markets and currencies.
Hunters Property shareholders saw similarly positive progress during the period, with adjusted EPS growing 13% to 2.30p, and their interim dividend for the period hiking 9% to 0.87p per share.
The Company said lettings income grew 12% during the period and customer satisfaction remained strong at 96%. They also opened 3 more branches during the period and said they had invested ‘significantly’ in their software capabilities.
Glynis Frew, Chief Executive, said,
“We have delivered a good set of results in the first six months. The market has been held back by the wider economic uncertainty and the tenant fee ban. However, we continue to roll out our mitigation strategy as regards the ban which is well underway and is on plan.”
“We continue to offer a very attractive solution to suitable, independent businesses who see the advantages of joining the Hunters network. In fact, we are experiencing increasingly strong businesses seeing that benefit.”
“Going forward we believe our exceptional customer service at local level combined with enhanced technical expertise, automated compliance and increased productivity will boost our offering even further. We are investing in our software to advance our strategy to grow and develop the franchise system having recruited a COO with fifteen years’ experience in the industry as well as being bolstered by the support of our network in embracing that change.”
“The continuing work and support displayed by our staff and the franchise network itself is a credit to the Group. I offer, on behalf of the Board, our gratitude to everyone that is involved.”
“In quite the reversal from Tuesday’s 34-year lows – and brushing off a poor services PMI – Parliament’s attempts to avert a no-deal Brexit have put a spring in the step of the pound.”
“Admittedly it couldn’t quite maintain its lunchtime giddiness, where it found itself trading above $1.22. However, it was still up 0.8% against the dollar, and 0.3% against the euro, its weaker performance against the latter due to a decent morning for Eurozone PMIs.”
“That this comes despite the still present threat of a general election shows just how desperate the currency is to avoid Britain crashing out of the EU without an agreement in place – some uncertainties, after all, are more palatable than others.”
“Though the FTSE remained in the green, it did eventually succumb somewhat to the strength of the pound. In other words, it clung onto a half a percent increase, but slipped from its 7330-crossing one-month highs.”
“Elsewhere the rest of the markets continued to ride high off a combination of a temporarily reassuring Chinese services PMI, and the calming of the political situation in Italy. The DAX and CAC rose 0.8% and 1.2% respectively to hit 12000 and 5520, while the Dow Jones climbed 175 as it eyed 26300.”
Other news and macro financial updates have come from; Parliament being prorogued, No-Deal Brexit preparations, UK GDP during the second quarter, the London Stock Exchange Group (LON: LSE), the US-China currency manipulation debacle, and analysts’ outlook for markets and currencies.
Jack Cooney, CEO, said,
“As announced in June, our first six months of 2019 fell short of our full year expectations at the beginning of the year, primarily due to extraordinarily heavy rainfall during H1 2019 in the US that depressed sales in our largest market. The US non-residential construction market remains very healthy, and we are pleased to note that as the weather improves, we expect to see improvement in H2.”
“Whilst towards the end of the period, trading in Europe and the Middle East fell below the prior year in part due to the timing of certain contracts, we remain confident to deliver improved H2 2019 results, broadly in line with guidance for the full year, notwithstanding the wider macro pressures in Europe, particularly Germany, the Middle East and Australia. Pleasingly, a number of our other markets delivered growth, alongside growth from new products.”
“Despite our disappointment with H1 2019 trading, we do not see a fundamental change in our end-markets and maintain a positive outlook for the remainder of 2019 particularly as our customers in the US return to more typical levels of productivity. Our confidence is based on our close customer contacts through which we can assess customer workloads, backlogs and business outlook.”
“We continued to make long-term investments and to add key talent to the organization, striking the right balance of leveraging our flexible operating model to control costs and protect profits with making strategically important investments to grow the business over the long-term. With this operating flexibility and confident outlook in hand, we remain committed to continued sales execution in our core markets, progressing on our new product initiatives, and making sound strategic investments for medium to long-term growth, to deliver strong profits and healthy cash flows to our shareholders.”
