December 2016 was, as expected, a busy month from a deal completion perspective. Certain land and property development deals completed in line with our expectations and the month also saw a total of 44 residential completions at our JV house builder, Stonebridge Projects, and The Chocolate Factory in York. In addition, construction work on the Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre development is ahead of schedule resulting in marginally higher profit recognition for the year. We have also now received the draft investment property valuation data for our portfolio for 31 December 2016 which was as expected.
Taking the above into account, the Board now expects that profit before tax and earnings per share for the year ended 31 December 2016 will be slightly ahead of market expectations.
Furthermore, and notwithstanding the continuing macroeconomic concerns regarding the EU Referendum, the committed and contracted activity we already have in place means we start 2017 in an excellent position to achieve yet another year of further progress, delivering growth in long-term shareholder value.