First Property Group PLC
14 May 2007
14 May 2007
First Property Group plc
('Fprop' or 'the Company')
GROWTH OF ASSET MANAGEMENT DIVISION CONTINUES WITH €90 MILLION OF ACQUISITIONS
AND FSA REGISTRATION
First Property Group plc (AIM: FPO), the property asset manager, announces that
following the acquisitions detailed below it has increased assets under
management by 68% from €132 million (£90 million) in November 2006 to €222
million (£151 million).
The Company has acquired on behalf of the funds it manages three office blocks
in Poland, Romania and the UK, with an aggregate value of some €90 million (£61
million). The properties are all well located for their use class and should
earn a high running rate of return, having been acquired on yields of between
6.8% and 7.7%, as well as offering potential for capital gain. The properties
are respectively let to Prokom Software SA, one of Poland's leading listed
companies, Millennium Bank S.A. and Cadbury Schweppes plc.
As previously disclosed the Company is concentrating its activities on Central
and Eastern Europe. The acquisition of the property in the UK, let to Cadbury
Schweppes plc, was therefore an exception for the Company, the purchase of which
was concluded because it offers exceptional active management potential.
FSA Registration
The Company also announces that it has succeeded in its application to the
Financial Services Authority for registration.
The Part IV FSA registration allows Fprop to raise, and subsequently manage,
funds directly from the public, rather than solely from institutional and
professional investors. Fprop will now be able to access funds from a broad
range of investors and structure a wide variety of investment vehicles,
including publicly quoted investment companies, unit trusts as well as regulated
and unregulated investment schemes.
Commenting, Ben Habib, chief executive of First Property Group, said: 'Fprop's
asset management activities have grown considerably over the past couple of
years and continue to perform well. At our interim results we had over £90
million under management, which was 275% over the previous year's figure. With
the acquisition of these three properties, we now have over £150 million under
management, a further increase of over 68% in less than six months. We are also
in the latter stages of negotiating a number of other opportunities, which will
again increase the Company's assets under management, and expect to be able to
make an announcement as such in the near future.
'On account of the high values of properties in the UK, we made the decision in
June 2005 to concentrate our efforts in Central and Eastern Europe. As a result
of this and our emphasis on expanding our asset management activities, the Group
undertook a major transformation of its business. That transformation is now
complete, with the majority of the Group's profits derived from asset management
and over 85% of our holdings in this region.
'The next logical step in Fprop's evolution was therefore to apply for the FSA
registration, allowing us to raise funds for and operate all types of investment
vehicles. Receiving this approval is therefore a great step forward for the
business which will allow us to deliver further value to our shareholders going
forward.
'We look forward to announcing the Group's results on 6 June 2007.'
For further information:
Ben Habib - Chief Executive Richard Sunderland / Rachel Drysdale
First Property Group plc Tavistock Communications
Tel: 020 7731 2844 Tel: 020 7920 3150
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
BURVAAR