Grainger Share Discussion Threads

[purplebox] 04/2/2011 18:52

Late RNS - Acquisition

[panachegrp] 04/1/2011 07:12

Possible interest in Grainger??

A small article in the FT on the 28th suggesting Grainger and UNite are ones to watch.

[coby4] 10/12/2010 15:35

they are a bit stuck on rents as half the portfolio is to tenants with security through rent control and the other half is to people who have sold part of their property to the company under an equity release scheme and dont pay any rent anyway - although in these instances the tenant rather than the company is responsible for upkeep.

hopefully after refinancing debt they have been carefull on fixed rate borrowing and dividend surely not so token given rights issue last year?

appear to be demonstrating their claim that the portfolio has liquidity even in these testing times

looks a better bet than a year ago, certainly wish id dipped in for a few at 80 odd pence a week or so ago!

[purplebox] 09/12/2010 15:32

Doing well again today...

[sandbank] 07/12/2010 09:07

ZASTAS: True - but the answer, surely, is to increase rents.

Helpfully we also have a severe winter which means a number of older tenants will be relinquishing their tenancies to take up eternal residence elsewhere - thus providing an ideal opportunity to revise rents.

[zastas] 30/11/2010 20:30

Coby,

One look at the income statement may help.

Rent income + property disposal gains+ other income - administration costs barely covers the interest due. Quite worrying, given we have ultra-low interest, which can only go up.

A deserved considerable discount to whatever NAV we like IMHO. Token symbolic dividend only.

[coby4] 26/11/2010 13:58

encouraging results, reinstatement of dividend, directors buying shares and still a sorry looking share price!

[purplebox] 25/11/2010 08:47

Final results:



Final dividend 1.2p.

[chadders] 06/10/2010 10:07

Another 1 million shares bought this morning. Bodes well methinks.

[chadders] 21/9/2010 11:02

Good to see some large buys going through this morning.

[bb123] 13/9/2010 12:04

Grainger plc
Holdings in Company

Grainger plc announces that it has received a notification dated 9 September 2010 from BlackRock Investment Management (UK) Limited that, following a transaction on 7 September 2010, they now have a total interest in 23,264,345 ordinary shares of the company representing 5.59% of the total voting rights.

For and on behalf of

Grainger plc

[chadders] 09/9/2010 17:23

Seems to be building up a head of steam.

[chadders] 08/9/2010 09:14

Decent update from Berkeley (BKG) today which could help GRI going forward.

[bb123] 11/8/2010 14:14

Any viewson on these results today?


11 August 2010

Grainger plc
Interim Management Statement

Grainger plc ("Grainger", the "Company" or the "Group"), the UK's largest quoted residential property owner today presents its interim management statement covering its activities during the four month period to 31 July 2010.



Highlights



· A further £49.4m of residential sales completed, taking total sales in the ten months to 31 July to £128.4m. In addition a further £26.4m of sales are in solicitors' hands or have contracts exchanged, giving a total sales pipeline of £154.8m.



· Re-entry into residential acquisition market with £67.6m in our acquisitions pipeline.



· Acquisition of Sovereign Reversions plc ('Sovereign') completed. The Company is in ongoing discussions with Moorfield regarding the creation of a new joint venture which would own the Sovereign portfolio.



Commenting on the results to the end of July, Andrew Cunningham, Chief Executive of Grainger said:



"We continue to make strong progress in growing and strengthening the Company and its market leading position. Our portfolio is continuing to prove to be resilient and we are trading well, despite price growth in the general housing market slowing in the last few months reflecting the economic uncertainty. Furthermore we have also taken advantage of market conditions to make well-priced acquisitions which we anticipate will produce good levels of return for our investors in the future."



Market Review

As we predicted at the time of our interim results in May, house price growth in the residential market has slowed over the early summer months. Nevertheless, our portfolio is resilient and we continue to sell well. We recognise the fragility of the market and are reflecting that by acquiring assets that we believe will deliver good levels of long term returns to the Company. Consequently, we are focussing on residential acquisitions which display some or all of the following characteristics:



- good prospects of long term capital appreciation

- high levels of reversionary potential

- development or refurbishment potential

- produce attractive yields



Residential Trading

Together with sales in solicitors' hands or with contracts exchanged, our total sales pipeline to the end of July 2010 amounts to £154.8m:



· In the ten month period to 31 July 2010 we sold 593 vacant units for a consideration of £90.1m at a sales margin of 42.6%. The equivalent figures to the end of July 2009 were 625 units for £86m at a margin of 35.5%. The improvement in margins reflects the overall increase in prices we have achieved. These sales have been made at values approximately 6.9% above our September 2009 vacant possession values, a period in which the average of the Halifax and Nationwide indices has increased by 3%.



· In addition to these sales of vacant units we have also made investment sales (sales with a tenant in place) of £7.3m and one-off sales, primarily of agricultural property, of £31.0m at values 14.3% above last September's valuations.



The total sales pipeline of £154.8m to the end of July 2010 is lower than last year's equivalent figure of £180m as we have taken the strategic decision to reduce significantly our investment sales programme in the second half of the year.



We have increased the number of properties which we refurbish prior to sale and estimate that this activity has produced incremental profit of c £1.4m.



This strong sales performance reflects the ongoing resilience of our trading portfolios, even in uncertain economic conditions.



We continue to see good acquisition opportunities and by the end of July we had completed, exchanged or placed in solicitors' hands some £67.6m of residential property acquisitions.



Home Reversion

In addition to the purchases noted above, we have now completed the acquisition of Sovereign Reversions plc for a consideration of £34.6m (at £2.02 per share, compared to a Sovereign Board net asset value estimate at 31 October 2009 of £2.517 per share). An independent valuation of the market value of Sovereign's property portfolio at 30 April 2010 amounted to £69.3m. As previously announced, Grainger is in discussions with Moorfield, a UK-based real estate investor and fund manager, with a view to establishing a joint venture between Grainger and Moorfield Real Estate Fund II such that Moorfield would become a funding partner in respect of the Sovereign acquisition. We anticipate updating the market on the outcome of these discussions shortly.



Fund management and investments

The portfolio in G:res 1, the market rented fund under our management, was valued at 30 June 2010 and showed an increase in vacant possession values of 3.8% since December 2009. Net asset value per share has improved from 64p to 67p, an increase of 4.7%. In light of growing investor interest in the market rented sector, we are currently investigating options to increase the size of the fund.



The controlled liquidation of the Schroders Residential Property Unit Trust nears completion with only £0.1m of assets remaining to be sold.



Development Division

Activity in this division remains focussed on progressing the planning on various schemes, in particular our site at Newlands near West Waterlooville in Hampshire. Sales activity has been largely restricted to our site at Hornsey Road in North London where we have now successfully completed all the sales from the second phase, selling 33 units for £9.2m. We have also sold two further units which were previously let for £0.5m.



Germany

Unlike the UK where our activities are focussed more towards trading, our German business is primarily rental based, which complements the Groups' varied return profiles. Gross rents to end July amounted to £25.4m, representing a yield of 6.8%, on valuation.



Debt

At 31 July 2010, Group net debt was £1,303m (31 March 2010: £1,308m) and committed undrawn facilities and cash amounted to £285m (31 March 2010: £300m). The estimated loan to value on our core lending syndicate (based on September 2009 asset values) amounted to 54.4%.



Outlook

Although the level of general house price growth we saw in late 2009 and early 2010 has begun to slow, our portfolio continues to perform well. This is due to its low average value per property, its geographic diversity and the unrefurbished condition of many of the units we sell which provide attractive development opportunities for a potential purchaser.



We continue to identify attractive acquisition opportunities and our financial capacity and management expertise will enable us to take advantage of those that we believe will deliver long term shareholder value.



For further information:



Grainger plc
Financial Dynamics

Andrew Cunningham/Dave Butler
Stephanie Highett/Dido Laurimore

Tel: [phone]
Tel: [phone]





This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

END


IMSPMMFTMBTBBJM

[chadders] 27/7/2010 11:41

Decent buy volume today, maybe time to kick on.

[sandbank] 24/6/2010 17:56

I suspect today's 5% rise came about as a result of the Daily Telegraph's "Questor" Buy recommendation today:-

"Questor tipped Grainger. Britain's largest quoted residential property landlord, exactly two months ago. Since then, the shares have endured a poor run, falling 21pc amid concerns for the property market as the economy stalls and the prospect of an austerity Budget, including a rise in capital gains tax (CGT), draws closer.

Clearly, the fall is disappointing, but Questor believes Grainger looks cheap and offers value for investors even on modest forecasts for the housing market.

This column is sceptical about the prospects for many property stocks, but Grainger offers a solid investment in the long-term fundamentals of UK housing rather than an over-leveraged gamble on rising asset prices.

Grainger's business is primarily to buy homes worth around £190,000 and let them at levels below market value. It then aims to sell the property on for a higher value once the tenant moves out, or dies, or the asset has been refurbished. This model offers exposure to house price inflation and a market where the supply of homes struggles to meet demand. In addition, it offers this without the heavy capital demands and fragility of building new houses.

Despite this, Grainger is trading at a 35pc discount to its net asset value per share of 173p, a key measure for property companies. This NAV was stated for the six months to March 31, and did not take into account a revaluation of Grainger's portfolio during that time. Analysts at KBC Peel Hunt have forecast NAV will reach 198p for Grainger, which is closing in on a £35m deal to buy rival Sovereign Reversions, by September 30, and described the shares as a "serious bargain".

Property stocks have come under pressure since the formation of the Coalition. The proposed "localism" of planning rules and freezing of state aid for new housing projects have sparked worry about construction.

But the mature housing markets Grainger operates in are shielded from the worst of these, and it has even said it could benefit if the Chancellor announces changes in CGT by picking up properties on the cheap. The housing market may be volatile in the short term, but Grainger still looks affordable. Buy."

[chadders] 24/6/2010 11:13

Big increase in volume so far today and I reckon those 2 x 1million trades are buys and not sells as reported. Could be interesting times ahead. DYOR etc.

[chadders] 23/6/2010 13:25

I think that's Norges Bank increasing their position. Anyone have up to date info on major shareholders?

[bb123] 17/6/2010 11:11

Any views on Grainger. I noticed they have had a profitable resale of reversionary properties and the the shares trade 42 per cent below year-end NAV estimates. The total sales pipeline, including units in solicitor's hands, stands at an impressive £121m.

[salpara111] 20/5/2010 18:18

I guess at its essence, this is a play on residental property values in that regardless of the income stream the NAV of the portfolio will drive the share price.
I personally believe that residental property will decline in value by around 30% over the next 5-7 years in real terms.(Yes, I am a home owner!)
If you belive that values are going to rise then you are on a winner.
I have gone into commercial property as values there have dropped about 40% from their highs of a couple of years ago while residential has only dropped about 15%.

[chadders] 20/5/2010 08:09

Sales up, profits up, margins increased, healthy sales pipeline, restored the dividend. Not bad for starters.

[ny boy] 27/4/2010 16:12

Plenty of buys going through, I guess by the number of posts, none from advfn users!

[ny boy] 27/4/2010 13:18

Thought there would be more savvy investors about looking at this one?