Brixton registers loss and big fall in property valuation

Posted under General by Alan

Brixton Estate, the London-based group run by Tim Wheeler, has suffered a first-time loss of £236.7m in the first half of 2008, against pre-tax profit of £192m in the same period last year. Its net asset value came down by 18% to 448p per share.

According to a Brixton spokesperson, the commercial property market, reeling under credit crunch and economy slowdown, has become more challenging as predicted by the group this year. It claimed that a lack of transactions in the market has created confusion over direct property pricing.

The group points out that since the release of its interim performance statement, the situation has worsened further. It is predicting that inflationary concerns, slowing growth and unclear scenario of the interest rate and costs, would lower the business activity all over the UK.

Brixton, established in 1924, became a public company in 1934. It sold off operations in the US, Belgium, Germany and Australia and started focussing solely on the UK since 1977. Last year, it was converted in to a real estate investment trust.

The group, which specialises in industrial property, has facilities in Park Royal and Heathrow. It manages 19m square feet of property. In anticipation of the downturn, it sold secondary properties, worth £560m, in 2006.

Brixton group announced completion of its development work and stated that it would not be undertaking any construction work in the immediate future.