Pyne Gould back in black as Queenstown property development comes on stream
Pyne Gould Corp posts a profit of £2.9 million, or 1.09p a share.
Pyne Gould Corp returned to profit in the first-half as its Queenstown property development came to market at the tail-end of 2016.
The NZX-listed, Guernsey, UK-based company, controlled by managing director George Ker, posted a profit of £2.9 million, or 1.09p a share, in the six months ended December 31, turning around a loss of £1.5 million, or 0.51p pence, a year earlier.
That included £7.5 million of net income from Pyne Gould's land developments and resales.
Pyne Gould has targeted distressed assets through its Torchlight Fund LP, a division it set up in 2009 to house toxic Marac Finance property loans that needed a longer timeframe for value to be realised as part of the recapitalisation of the finance company.
Those investments include a cornerstone stake in ASX-listed Lantern Hotel Group and 100% of residential land investor RCL, which has a land bank of 4000 sites across Australia and New Zealand.
RCL's Hanley Downs development near Queenstown was rezoned in the third quarter of 2016 "and has begun the process of unlocking cash value over time" with the first stages of the project "released to the market in the latter part of 2016.”
About 175 sections have sold in line with list prices, Pyne Gould says. "The near-term focus within RCL remains on continuing to progress this project."
The company says Torchlight is valued at $A381.8 million, up from $A283.7 million by valuer Duff & Phelps, although that wouldn't show up in Pyne Gould's accounts which adopted a different methodology.
The fund is subject to "a number of large and complex litigations" including a dispute with minority partners wanting to wind up the fund early, and Pyne Gould expects to provide an update "in the near future.”
The shares last traded at 23.5c and are down 4.1% over the past 12 months.
Full accounts for the half will be released by the end of March.
(BusinessDesk)
Paul McBeth
Wed, 01 Mar 2017
Wed, 01 Mar 2017
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Pyne Gould back in black as Queenstown property development comes on stream
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