AGM Statement 1999
At the Company’s Annual General Meeting held today in London, Stan Clarke, Chairman of St. Modwen Properties PLC, was in confident mood and informed shareholders of the excellent progress made during the year to date, following the record year in 1999:
“I am very pleased to report that the current year has started well and that we are extremely active in all areas of our business.
* Development sales totalling £14.4m have already been exchanged or completed, including at Trentham Lakes, Stoke-on-Trent, a 3,250sq. m. call centre let to HSBC and a 3,500sq. m. health and fitness club for Greenalls, at Apex 6, Worcester, a 1,425sq. m. office building let to Bennetts Insurance and at Coombs Wood, Halesowen, a 4,800sq. m. industrial building sold to ASK McGowan.
* £4.1m of residential land sales have also been secured at Florence Park, Stoke-on-Trent; Stretton Park, Burton-on-Trent and Telford.
* We have also secured a 3,700sq. m. pre-let office development for ICL at our Trident site in Warrington. This will be completed later this year.
* Looking further ahead, we have obtained a resolution to grant planning consent for a 10,250sq. m. retail park in Worcester, on a site we have been assembling over a number of years.
* We are well advanced on the infra-structure work for Quinton and Coleshill business parks, our two premier motorway located office developments on the southern edges of Birmingham. These will provide some 35,000sq. m. of office space with, in the case of Coleshill, supporting leisure facilities.
* Work is due to commence shortly on the first phase of Castle Walk, our 11,300sq. m. town centre shopping development in Newcastle under Lyme, Staffordshire.
* We are making good progress with our local authority partners on the development masterplans for Edmonton Green and Farnborough our major town centre schemes totalling 32 acres and 1m ft2 and are in advanced discussions with key occupiers.
* We have acquired a further 13-hectare industrial estate opportunity in Wigan including 30,000sq. m. of existing buildings.
* Yesterday we exchanged contracts to acquire a 27-hectare brownfield development opportunity in Avonmouth.
In the current financial year, no one scheme is expected to predominate. A more balanced split between the two halves of the year will also be evident, unlike last year where the first-half was boosted by the sale of Egg’s call centre, Derby.
“We are achieving budgeted results despite higher interest rates and changes in stamp duty and with the achievements so far, I am confident that your company will record another year of good progress.”
