Shaftesbury profits rise on prosperous West End

The West End has defied the retail slump and continues to be busy and prosperous, according to Shaftesbury, the London property firm.

The news is in marked contrast to retail news from the rest of the UK, where high streets have been hit hard by the financial crisis.

The company said that in the six months to the end of March adjusted pre-tax profit was up 15% to £16.1m, with net property income rising 10% to £35.5m.

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Chief Executive Brian Bickell said that throughout the first half of the financial year Shaftesbury's portfolio had been virtually fully let as demand for West End locations remained healthy.

"London's reputation as a destination of world renown continues to grow, and this summer's major events - the Queen's Diamond Jubilee and the Olympics - will put the city firmly in the world's spotlight," he said.

"These events are a unique opportunity for London to promote its many attractions to a global audience."

However, the firm, which owns 500 properties in some of the most sought after retail destinations in West London, said it had been hit by a drop in its property revaluation surplus as well as losses on financial bets.

Taking these factors into account saw the company's profits fall 62% to £38.1m.

Like-for-like rental income grew by 3.5% compared with the first half of last year while rents receivable across the group rose by £3.7m to £40.3m.

The company declared an interim dividend of 5.95p per share, an increase of 8.2% on last year's interim dividend of 5.50p.

Vacant commercial space in its wholly owned portfolio amounted to £3.1m of earnings rental value (ERV), equivalent to 3.9% of commercial ERV.

Of this, £1.5m, representing 1.9% of commercial ERV, was held for or under refurbishment and £1.6m, equivalent to 2.0% of commercial ERV, was available to let.

It warned that refurbishment projects meant that properties producing a gross income of £1m per annum would have to be vacated until the summer of 2014.

The firm also announced that Chairman John Manser would retire next year after the company's AGM.

He will be succeeded by Jonathan Lane, currently the firm's executive Deputy Chairman.