This London developer has slashed its land value by 20 per cent
London developer Capital & Counties Properties (Capco) has cut the value of its Earl's Court development by 20 per cent.
In its results for the year, the company said the value of its Earl's Court site had fallen from £1.4bn to £1.1bn.
However, analysts were expecting it to be worse. JP Morgan has predicted a 30 per cent cut, so Capco's share price rose this morning. At time of writing, its share price was up by 2.86 per cent.
Read more: CapCo has cut the value of its Earls Court housing development
Capco last cut the value of its Earl's Court development at its interim results in July. At that point, it dropped the land value by 14 per cent, down from £1.4bn to £1.2bn.
The news comes as house prices on high-end homes in London are falling due to higher taxes and economic uncertainty. As chancellor, George Osborne hiked stamp duty on homes worth more than £1m, putting the brakes on the capital's luxury property market.
House prices on high end-homes in Chelsea have fallen by more than 10 per cent. Some homes have had their asking prices dropped by as much as 30 per cent.
| Key figures from Capco's results |
|
| Total property value | £3.7bn |
| Value of Covent Garden | £2.3bn |
| Value of Earl's Court | £1.1bn |
| Full-year dividend | 1.5p per share |
Ian Hawksworth, chief executive of Capco, said: "Capco remains focused on its strategy to deliver long-term value creation from its two unique London estates…the group is well-positioned to withstand short-term market uncertainty and take advantage of opportunities as they arise."
The value of Capco's Covent Garden development came in at £2.3bn, up from £2bn the year before, a rise of six per cent. The group made £85m worth of acquisitions over the year to expand its footprint in the estate.