Broadgate value falls to pounds 1bn on sale

The sale of 175 Bishopsgate and 100 Ludgate, meant the total value of the portfolio of Broadgate Properties, which owns most of the Broadgate Centre in the City of London, dropped from pounds 1.07bn to just over pounds 1bn last year, writes Gail Counsell.

But a revaluation conducted by surveyors DTZ Debenham Thorpe added pounds 46m to the value of the remaining investment properties, a rise of about 6 per cent. A further pounds 25.7m was contributed by the release of provisions no longer needed. As a result shareholders' funds rose by pounds 83.6m to pounds 232m, with net assets up from pounds 38.7m to pounds 114m and shareholder loans up from pounds 110m to pounds 118m.

Broadgate also pushed back into the black in the 12 months ended June, earning pre-tax profits of pounds 28.8m, an abrupt reversal of 1993's pounds 72.5m loss.

The improvement is good news for Stanhope, the beleaguered property company which owns 50 per cent of Broadgate but is in the middle of complex negotiations with its bankers. Broadgate is its main asset, and the improvement in asset value should help Stanhope show a positive result this year.

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