Business
Preliminary Results
Preliminary Results.
About this update from Mountview Estates P.l.c.
[{"type":"text","content":"\n Mountview Estates PLC\n22 June 2006\n\n\nMOUNTVIEW ESTATES PLC\n\nPreliminary Results\n\n\nChairman's Statement\n\n\nIn my statement, which accompanied our interim Report, I stated that those\nAccounts were our first to be prepared under the new International Financial\nReporting Standards. I think it appropriate to state that this is the first\npreliminary statement to be prepared under the new International Financial\nReporting Standards, and that the figures for year ended 31 March 2005 have been\nadjusted so as to provide true comparisons.\n\nOpposite are the financial highlights for the year ended 31 March 2006.\n\nAt 30 September 2005 our Profit before Taxation was down by almost £3.7 million\nfor the six months but for the full year to 31 March 2006 it is down by less\nthan £2.2 million. This turnround of more than £1.5 million and an encouraging\nstart to our new financial year suggest that we have arrested our decline and\nmay even be able to look forward to profits resuming an upward trend. The last\nfew months have seen a greater urgency in the market place than had been the\ncase for the previous eighteen months. In particular the auction rooms have been\nvery busy.\n\nOur rental income continues to hold up well and recently sales revenues have\nshown renewed strength. These combined with reduced borrowings and lower\ninterest rates give cause for optimism. Nevertheless the need for firm financial\ncontrol continues. The cost of maintaining the properties, making the necessary\nimprovements to enhance rental income and ensuring that properties are in\noptimum condition at the point of sale is always likely to increase because of\nthe higher expectations of what landlords should provide.\n\nThe costs of administering a company and fulfilling its statutory obligations\ncontinue to rise and I believe that we have done well to contain these costs as\nnearly as we have. Although it may be some time before we are able to repeat the\nrecord profits of two years ago we are now operating at a level which compares\nvery favourably with the 1990s and with continuing strong financial and internal\ncontrols there is reasonable expectation that profits may ease forward once\nmore.\n\nThis has been a difficult year but I believe that we have made the right\ndecisions. My staff and colleagues have rallied round and I thank the...