Great Portland Estates CEO and FD Interviewed on 2012 Preliminary Results

LONDON, May 23, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --



Great Portland Estates, the UK property investment and development company, released its 2012 preliminary results today saying one of the main drivers behind its performance had been a  "very strong" leasing year.  The company said it had benefitted from its portfolio of assets being concentrated around London's West End and its tenant base had proved to be "incredibly resilient".

NAV per share was up 11.9% for the year, with the company highlighting a 4.4% rise in the final quarter, well ahead of analysts' forecasts.  The company said a fall in EPS of over 50% reflected its development and refurbishment programme which was in line with expectations.

In a video interview, CEO Toby Courtauld said the development pipeline remained positive with plenty of potential. "I would expect the profits to begin to flow through increasingly over the next few years if all of the schemes that we have on site at the moment deliver the margins that we think they will."

Finance Director Nick Sanderson emphasized that the company was in a strong and financially flexible  position given its relatively low gearing, its ability to recycle capital and its JV track record which meant that it was more than capable of funding its sizeable development programme.   

"We are confident about the outlook," Toby Courtauld asserted, saying GPE had taken on an appropriate level of development risk and was in good shape.

The interview and transcript are available now on http://www.cantos.com.

MerchantCantos produces in-depth interviews, documentaries and webcasts with senior company executives. If you would like to contact us, please email prnsupport@merchantcantos.com or phone +44-207-936-1352.