Interim turnaround at Conygar 

Acquisitive property group Conygar is ‘evaluating opportunities’ after turning £2.3 million first-half losses into £7 million pre-tax profits.

Two major purchases saw the London-based company increase rental income in the six months to March from £687,000 to £7.8 million, while it also sold properties for a combined £3.1 million. AIM-quoted Conygar, which did not repeat the £3.2 million property inventory write-down of a year earlier, increased net assets from £67 million to £169 million, or 144p a share.

The company has disposed of assets for £42.8 million since September’s £28.8 million acquisition of the Advantage Income Property Trust, whose own assets have risen by £7.1 million to £58.1 million since that deal. Conygar bought seven office and industrial properties, the ‘Lamont portfolio’, in November for £44.8 million and has more recently obtained planning consent to develop 110,000 sq ft of offices and distribution warehouses at Parc Cybi in Holyhead, Anglesey, and is expected to be able to start marina development at Pembroke Dock next year.

In all, Conygar, steered by chief executive Robert Ware and chairman Nigel Hamway, sold £45.9 million of properties in the first half-year at a £5.7 million profit over last September’s valuation. The company ended March with £72 million cash and has increased its firepower to £110 million by amending its facility from Lloyds Banking Group.

However, directors remain cautious about the pace of the property market recovery outside London and say that ‘it remains a case of proactively positioning ourselves, maintaining a constructive dialogue and waiting’.

Shares in Conygar, which has foreshadowed a dividend of at least 1p a share for the year to September, have fluctuated between 99p and 126.5p over the past year and now trade at 116p, valuing the company at £136.2 million.