London office developer and landlord Helical has posted a 3.2% fall in net asset value (NAV) for the six months to the end of September.
NAV for the half-year came in at £579.2m, compared to £598.7m at the end of March, with EPRA net tangible asset per share down 3.6% to 505p (March 2020: 524p).
The company reported a pre-tax loss of £12.7m, compared to the profit of £13.1m at the same point last year.
The group’s total property return plunged to £6.9m from £28.6m last year, and it posted a loss per share of 1p after earnings of 5.4p 12 months ago.
Helical’s portfolio also nudged down in value to £815.7m, from £819.6m at the end of March, and loan-to-value edged up to 32.2% from 31.4%.
Gerald Kaye, chief executive of Helical, said it was “not yet clear” if the government had “struck the right balance between the urgent need for a re-opening of the economy, particularly in London, and the continued protection of the health of the nation”.
Kaye added that the enforced “working from home experiment” will result in more flexibility being offered to some office workers in the future, but added: “However, we also believe that the disadvantages of working at home with its inadequate ergonomics, lack of divide between work and home life, potential mental health issues caused by isolation from colleagues and, for many, its ever decreasing productivity as collaboration and creativity diminish, will provide the impetus for a return to the office as the place of work.”
The group’s near term focus is on letting the available space across the portfolio and using the proceeds of its £114.8m sale of a portfolio of Manchester offices earlier this month to obtain new projects.
“These will be a combination of properties acquired for redevelopment and the refurbishment and repositioning of existing buildings, delivering the highest quality, fit for purpose office space, suitable for the post-COVID world.”
HLCL : Helical posts 3.2% fall in NAV