Harworth Group plc – Full Year Results

HARWORTH GROUP PLC

(‘Harworth’ or the ‘Group’ or the ‘Company’)

Full Year Results for the year ended 31 December 2024

Operational outperformance, strong returns and continued EPRA NDV growth

Harworth Group plc, a leading land and property regenerator of sustainable developments, today announces its results for the year ended 31 December 2024.

Summary highlights1	2024	2023	%  change		2024	2023	%  change
Total accounting return (%)	9.1	5.1	+4.0*	Value gains (£m)	97.2	58.1	+67.3
EPRA NDV per share (p)2	222.3	205.1	+8.4	Total Property sales (£m)3	215.8	125.9	+71.4
EPRA NDV (£m)2	719.5	662.9	+8.5	Residential plots sales	2,385	1,170	+103.9
Net loan to portfolio value (%)	5.4	4.7	+0.7*	Inv. Portfolio value (£m)4	297.2	221.4	+34.2
Liquidity (£m)	192.4	192.2	+0.2	Inv. Portfolio Grade A5 (%)	45	37	+8.0*

Financial highlights6	2024	2023	%  change		2024	2023	%  change
Total dividend per share (p)7	1.614	1.466	+10	Operating profit (£m)	74.6	54.2	+37.6
Net debt (£m)	46.7	36.4	+28.3	Portfolio value (£m)8	821.6	734.7	+11.8
Net assets per share (p)	213.7	197.3	+8.3	Net asset value (£m)	691.7	637.7	+8.5

Lynda Shillaw, Chief Executive of Harworth, commented: “Harworth delivered record revenue and land sales in 2024, generating significant value gains, with EPRA NDV up 8.5% year on year. Our strong total accounting return of 9.1% is yet again among the best in the sector and the result of management actions, consistent with our focus on driving value as we continue to progress our sites through development. This included two landmark land sales, to Microsoft for a hyperscale data centre and Frasers Group for their global headquarters, alongside record residential plot sales. Our performance continues to demonstrate the resilience of our through-the-cycle business model and highlights our ability to capitalise on emerging sectors, such as data centres, to accelerate our sites. The last four years of investment in strengthening our business to enable growth is bearing fruit and the business is performing across the board.

“While we remain cautious in light of the current macro-economic backdrop, our financial flexibility and careful capital allocation, and alignment to structurally undersupplied sectors fundamental to the UK’s growth, mean we are well placed to navigate uncertainty.

“Our consented pipeline and land bank and our ability to deliver at scale are significant strengths against a backdrop of site scarcity in our regions, and a planning system that remains sluggish as the reforms introduced by the government bed in. With a significant number of our sites coming on line for development, we are well positioned to continue to deliver strong returns, creating long-term value for our investors as we recycle capital to unlock the material underlying value of our land bank and increase the development of modern Grade A Industrial & Logistics assets. All of these actions provide the foundations for achieving our targets of £1bn of EPRA NDV by the end of 2027 and growing our core Investment Portfolio to £0.9bn by the end of 2029.”

Management actions drive strong performance

• Total accounting return(1) (‘TAR’) of 9.1% (2023: 5.1%), driven by growth in EPRA NDV per share and marking another year of consecutive sector-leading returns with an average of 8.4% over the last five years against the MSCI All Property Index of 5.1%

• EPRA NDV increased by 8.5% or £56.6m to £719.5m (2023: £662.9m), driven by management actions, principally moving sites through planning, and progressing infrastructure and direct development, which are reflected in revaluation gains and gains on sales, including landmark sales at Skelton Grange, Leeds and Ansty, Rugby

• EPRA NDV(1)(2) per share increased by 8.4% or 17.2p to 222.3p (2023: 205.1p)

• In line with our progressive dividend policy, total dividend per share of 1.614p was up 10%, (2023: 1.466p) after a final dividend of 1.125p

Total property sales of £215.8m across 2,385 Residential plots and 4.4m sq. ft of Industrial & Logistics land

• Agreed £106.6m land sale to Microsoft, of which £47.9m was recognised during 2024

• Completed sale of Strategic Land site at Ansty (Rugby) for £53.5m to Frasers Group

• Record Residential plot sales of 2,385 at headline sales value of £104.1m (broadly in line with or ahead of HY24 book values before transaction costs)

• Deep and diversified customer base with sales to national and regional housebuilders and registered social affordable housing providers, including our third forward funded development agreement with Great Places, validating the robust demand for our de-risked Residential service land across different tenures

Planning approvals underpin extensive and growing pipeline

• Planning approvals secured for 6.8m sq. ft of Industrial & Logistics space (2023: 1.1m sq. ft), including 1.5m sq. ft at Gascoigne Wood (Selby), increasing total consented space to 8.4m sq. ft (2023: 6.1m sq. ft)

• Planning approvals secured for 818 Residential plots, growing total consented plots to 4,568 plots (2023: 5,296 plots).

• Harworth’s extensive land bank now has capacity to deliver up to 33.6m sq. ft of Industrial & Logistics space and 31,264 Residential plots across the Midlands and the North of England

Selective strategic acquisitions

• £43.7m acquisition of Catalyst (Rotherham), a 285,000 sq. ft, Grade A, urban logistics estate, with headline rental income of £2.2m, located adjacent to our flagship Advanced Manufacturing Park (‘AMP’)

• £30.6m acquisition of former brickworks site at Stewartby (Bedfordshire), payable over two years, which has outline planning consent for 1,000 homes

• Further acquisitions of £11.5m including at Wingates (Bolton), enhancing our land assembly for Phase 2 of that development, and at Grimsby West (Grimsby)

• Acquired 25 acres of Residential land at Cinderhill (Derbyshire), increasing the freehold ownership to 51%, and enabling the delivery of an enhanced scheme

Core Investment Portfolio space now 45% Grade A (2023: 37%)

• Core Investment Portfolio valued at £297.2m (2023: £221.4m), with a reduced EPRA vacancy rate(9) of 5.6% (2023: 9.9%)

• 107,000 sq. ft. of Grade A Industrial & Logistics space completed in 2024, 73,000 sq. ft of which was retained within the core Investment Portfolio, adding £0.6m of headline rental income

• Currently on site with 270,000 sq. ft of Industrial & Logistics development, with one-third of this space already pre-let.

• Leasing activity added £0.7m of headline rental income on a like for like basis, 4.3% ahead of December 2023 estimated rental value (‘ERV’), with renewals and rent reviews achieving, on average, a 22% uplift to previous passing rents

• The core Investment Portfolio has a headline rental income 19.3% below year-end ERVs, alongside a net initial yield of 4.8% (2023: 5.0%), and a reversionary yield of 6.5% (2023: 6.3%), demonstrating near-term reversionary potential

Investment in enabling works builds momentum in pipeline

• Completed enabling works during the year to deliver up to 1.3m sq. ft of Industrial and Logistics space at Chatterley Valley (Stoke) and Droitwich (Worcester). Construction already well progressed at Droitwich and ready to start at Chatterley Valley later this year.

• The next tranche of enabling works was underway at year-end, to open up a further 1.8m sq. ft of space at both Skelton Grange (Leeds), where we are delivering serviced land for Microsoft, and Wingates (Bolton), where we are undertaking major highway works

Significant firepower to fund development pipeline

• Available liquidity of £192.4m at year-end (2023: £192.2m), alongside our consistent track record of generating cash through land sales, gives us the firepower needed to fund our attractive development pipeline

• Year-end net debt was £46.7m (2023: £36.4m), representing a net loan to portfolio value (‘LTV’) of 5.4% (2023: 4.7%)

Delivering Harworth’s commitment to planet, people and communities

• The Group published its first Net Zero Carbon (‘NZC’) Progress Report, providing an update on progress in meeting its NZC pathway. A further update will be provided in our 2024 NZC Progress Report, which will be released alongside the Annual Report & Accounts in April 2025

• Harworth published its Communities Framework, outlining its approach to delivering social value. The Framework has been incorporated into the Group’s Gascoigne Wood development (Selby) and will continue to be rolled out across the business in 2025