Dividend declaration
Friday, May 05, 2006
Following a Board meeting last week and recent successful disposals, the Directors are pleased to announce the distribution of a special dividend to all shareholders of Your Space plc of 10p per ordinary share.
This dividend will be paid on 19 June 2006 to shareholders on the company register on 19 May 2006.
The Board also wishes to release a trading update and outline to shareholders the Board’s plans for the company over the remainder of the year.
Trading update
As outlined in our recent statement on the 21 April 2006, our wholly owned subsidiary, Workspace North West Limited, which owns the Grade II listed Mill in central Manchester has enjoyed average rental increases of almost 100 per cent. to all space that has been restored, in accordance to the requirements for a Grade II listed building and it is planned to have the building re-valued in the coming months. As previously disclosed the company successfully received planning permission last year to extend the building, with a contemporary designed extension, which will add 30 per cent. of additional capacity of serviced office space to let.
The company has also applied to the local authority for planning permission to construct an underground car park on the site.
The planning application to construct a 219 bed student accommodation block on the wholly owned adjacent car park is progressing and the company will update shareholders as soon as it hears from the local planners.
Workspace North West Limited also owns a freehold building in the Midlands, called West Midlands House being a 1930s ex-lock factory, which has been converted for use as serviced offices.
The site comprises over 60,000 sq ft of office space and communal areas. Restoration of the building has now commenced, including refurbishment of space that was unsuitable for letting in its current state. The Directors hope to release up to 10,000 sq ft of space to let over the coming 9 months to add to the current 20,000 sq ft of space currently let today.
A new café /reception area is also planned and the restoration work will focus on restoring the existing materials/finishes in the building.
Your Space is also in discussions, which may lead to further acquisitions of commercial property that is suitable for conversion to serviced offices and further announcements will be made when discussions are firmed up.
The management contracts are performing in line with expectations.
We anticipate releasing our results for the period ended 31 March 06 by the 7 July 06. Recent business transacted by the Company has meant a substantial change in distributable reserves and we expect the year end numbers to reflect this. Interim accounts for the plc company have been filed at Companies house and reflect trading for the one month to end April 2006.
Chief Executive statement Year review
Subsequent to the appointment of Jim Millar and myself as the Group Finance Director and Chief Executive Officer respectively some 14 months ago, Your Space plc in its unaudited interims of September 2004 had reported net assets of under £4m and had accumulated losses approaching £1.9m.
The Group had net cash of approximately £667,000 and was relatively highly geared.
Both Jim and I have an extensive background in property development, construction and facility management services and have been involved in numerous businesses focused in these 3 sectors.
Following a strategic business review, the Group was restructured which was to set the foundation for the recovery that the company is now experiencing.
The review focused on 3 profit centres for the Group:
- Property development
- Construction services
- Facility management
As part of the restructure each of the property assets that were owned by our wholly owned subsidiaries were reviewed and development opportunities considered.
The company has since disposed of close to £13m of property and generated net cash proceeds in excess of £4m. The remaining freehold property/land is currently being developed and the Board are anticipating an increase in the asset values once the projects are complete.
As part of the operational review, it was decided to set up a dedicated in-house project management team to act as a main contractor to manage the various projects, especially the highly specialised restoration work of the Grade II listed building in Manchester and the ex-lock factory in the West Midlands.
It is anticipated that any development works that may arise as a result of future acquisitions will be managed by the in-house project management team.
The Directors believe that by managing the specialist refurbishment work in-house it allows us to control quality of the finished product, completion times and of course the cost.
Regarding the facilities management services, all contracts that were provided by external contractors were reviewed on a value for money basis and where appropriate brought in-house.
The Group now manages its own security, IT, catering and building maintenance services.
As progress has been made and confidence for the company’s future grew, the Directors sought shareholder approval to purchase shares for cancellation in the open market and earlier this year bought back over £240,000 of shares at 35p per share and alongside announced the 10p a share dividend, taking capital returned to shareholders in the 14 month period to over £2.14m.
The future
In January of this year the company announced the appointment of Steve Turton, who came from the Royal Bank of Scotland and has over 20 years experience in commercial property and finance. Steve’s addition to the executive team has been extremely valuable in the short time he has been in the company and the full benefits of his experience will be enjoyed as the Group expands.
The Board are considering ways and means of restructuring the Group so as to maximise the potential returns for the shareholders.
We look forward to making continual progress throughout the remainder of this year.
Shaun Mealey 01695 555 173
Chief Executive officer- Your Space plc
Richard Hughes 0161 831 1512
Zeus Capital
