Harworth Group plc
AGM Statement
Harworth Group plc (“Harworth” or the “Company”), the brownfield land regeneration and investment specialist, will hold its Annual General Meeting at 1pm today, when Owen Michaelson, Chief Executive, will make the following statement to the meeting:
“I am pleased to report that the Company has continued to make good progress in the first four months of 2016 and that the anticipated full year result continues to be in line with the Board's expectations.
“A key element of our strategy is replenishing the portfolio with former industrial land. In line with this, we announced the purchase in March of a 50% share in Aire Valley Land LLP, the owner of Temple Green, a 165 acre logistics hub in theLeeds City Region Enterprise Zone. We also purchased Sanderson House in Rotherham, a 20,000 sq. ft office building adjacent to our mixed-use Waverley development, for £2.2m, which has a net initial yield of 13.3%. These acquisitions mean that 10.5m sq. ft of consented employment space is ready to build within our portfolio[1] (March 2015: 8.1m sq. ft).
“Progress continued to be made in securing planning consents, with 10,199 consented residential plots now within the portfolio (March 2015: 7,864). During the first quarter, working in partnership with the Welbeck Estate, we secured planning consent for 65 residential plots and 120,565 sq. ft of new commercial space at the former Welbeck Colliery inNottinghamshire. On-site infrastructure work is now underway to allow the scheme's first commercial tenant, ArcEnergy, to build its Biogas plant.
“Residential development has also begun on our North Gawber development in Barnsley. This follows the completion of on-site infrastructure works and the subsequent sale of the first parcel of land in March to Avant Homes, which plans to build 174 new units.
“Commercial development remains a priority, evidenced by our decision in January to build a new 75,000 sq. ft unit on our Gateway 36 development in Barnsley as part of the scheme's first phase of development. In March, Sheffield City Regionprovided funding to Barnsley Council for major road infrastructure works on the Dearne Valley Parkway. This will open up future phases of the development, which is estimated to provide a further 1.1m sq. ft of commercial space.
“Good progress continued to be made at our flagship developments at Waverley in Rotherham and Logistics North inBolton. Detailed planning consent was secured in April for the next phase of development on the Advanced Manufacturing Park at Waverley, totalling 73,000 sq. ft, on land towards the west of the site. Further infrastructure works have also been completed at Logistics North in readiness for further occupiers to take up the remaining 2.5m sq. ft of consented employment space that remains at the development.
“The period saw the handback of Kellingley, the final deep coal mine which was operating on our sites. We look forward to submitting plans to regenerate this site and have commenced demolition and remediation. Our recycling and demolition operations are being affected by the continued lower commodity prices but we are securing other sources of income to offset this weakness.
“Demand for new housing and commercial space, particularly for units under 100,000 sq. ft, is steady within the regions in which we operate. Capital investment will continue to be concentrated on our brownfield sites with the greatest enhancement potential. As in previous years, we expect both residential and commercial sales to be weighted towards the second half of the year.
“Overall, we remain confident in our ability to deliver and grow shareholder value.”
The Board announces that it has appointed Andrew Cunningham, the former Chief Executive of Grainger plc, to the Board as an independent non-executive director with effect from 1 May 2016. Jonson Cox, Chairman, will say that “Harworth is pleased to welcome Andrew to the Board. He brings very relevant skills and experience to the Board which will assist with the strategic development of Harworth Group.”
In addition, Chris Birch will join the Company in the role of General Counsel and Company Secretary on 6 June 2016 replacing Geoff Mason who will step down on that date.