Land regeneration specialist Harworth Group has seen its revenue sky rocket following a flurry of land sales.
The London-listed developer, which is headquartered in Rotherham in South Yorkshire, saw its revenue hit £41.3m in the six months ending June 30, 2024, up from £18.2m in the same period last year.
As a result the company more than doubled its pre-tax profit during the period from £4.5m in the first six months of 2023 to £18.7m in its most recent first half.
By the end of the period Harworth Group said its value gains totalled £47m – a significant jump from the £7.5m seen in the first half of 2023.
This growth was largely driven by sales, site developments, and securing planning permissions, all taking place in “”relatively steady” market conditions.
The company’s annual rental income rose to £14.4m, marking a 2.4 per cent increase compared to the previous year on a like-for-like basis.
Lynda Shillaw, chief executive of Harworth, said: “Harworth continues to consistently deliver strong progress against its strategic objectives and we remain on track to reach £1bn EPRA net disposal value (NDV) by the end of 2027.
“In June we announced that the group would increase its focus on industrial and logistics direct development, with an intention to grow the investment portfolio, through direct development and selective acquisitions, to £0.9 bn by the end of 2029.
“This reflects the opportunity we see to deliver into a sector which is key to economic growth and where there is critical undersupply of high-quality space, in order to grow recurring income and underpin sustainable shareholder returns.
“The first half saw significant progress on planning approvals, adding further capacity to our near-term Industrial & Logistics pipeline and driving a strong revaluation performance.
“We are ahead of budget for land sales, with the standout transaction, as well as our largest sale to date, being the conditional £106.6m serviced land sale to Microsoft at Skelton Grange, announced in June.
“The sale of serviced land provides a stable funding channel for the planned growth in our industrial and logistics development programme.
“Sustained demand for Harworth’s serviced land and employment spaces, alongside management actions, has underpinned EPRA NDV growth of 3.5 per cent and we expect further growth in the second half as we continue to develop out our existing sites.
“Our current Industrial & Logistics pipeline has the potential to deliver future Gross Development Value of £5bn which contributes significantly to the £1bn EPRA NDV target.
“The near term pipeline has the ability to deliver up to £0.8bn of gross development value by the end of 2027.
“We are cautiously optimistic that a combination of improving economic stability and supportive government policy will be beneficial for both the real estate sector and Harworth.
“In the near term we recognise market confidence could potentially be tempered by the extent of the steps taken by the government to address the public funding deficit, but as a long-term investor Harworth is well versed in delivering performance through different policy environments.
“Ultimately, Harworth is a long-term through-the-cycle business and its extensive land pipeline, track record, specialist skillset and strong balance sheet sets us apart from our peers and enables us to maximise the value created from our sites for our shareholders.”