Grosvenor: Central London valuations ‘subdued’ amid Covid side effects
Property investment firm Grosvenor is back in the black after better fortunes for its 300-acre estate in Mayfair and Belgravia.
Owned by the Duke of Westminster, the multibillion-pound portfolio swung back into profit with a pre-tax profit of £327.5m, after posting a £322.8m loss in 2020.
The Liverpool ONE shopping centre owner swung back into the black after the value of its properties were marked back up, following post-lockdown optimism. Grosvenor’s portfolio is worth £8.9bn, after its property value increased by £320m last year.
It comes as footfall in the West End has rebounded after being hammered hard during the pandemic, when both domestic and international visitors shied away from the capital’s shopping and theatre destination.
However, while UK and European urban property performance “recovered with improved rent collections,” chief executive Mark Preston admitted that “valuations remained subdued as central London grappled with the impacts of Covid.”
Property income hit £310.2m in 2021, an increase of almost a quarter on the year prior’s sum of £254.6m.
Rent collection had gathered pace once more. Some 93 per cent of rents due from tenants in 2021 were paid by January, compared with 89 per cent of 2020 rents.
“Despite ongoing restrictions and lockdowns remaining a feature across our markets, decisive action in response, coupled with an improving economic environment, helped us achieve a significantly improved financial performance compared to the previous year,” Mark Preston, chief executive of Grosvenor, said.
The company had also seen “more challenging trading conditions” in Asia , with Covid-related restrictions proving “most stringent and enduring.”
Grosvenor hiked its dividend back to pre-pandemic levels, with the board paying a dividend of £47.8m, in 2021. In 2020, the company paid out a £32.3m dividend.
The company is pumping some £90m into a retrofit programme to improve the energy efficiency of its London property estate.
Its development pipeline consists of more than £3.1bn of potential projects, primarily focused in the UK and North America.
Across Grosvenor’s food and agtech business, the company has committed more than £80m into new investments – including fermented protein and plant-based food categories.