Profits from the Crown Estate have increased for the 25th year in succession. The organisation’s property portfolio has also reached a record value of £9.9bn.
This year’s annual report and accounts, for the year ending in March, show that real estate profits grew by 5.7 per cent to over £267m, with property values rising by more than 15 per cent — three times their worth in 1998 when the Estate returned its last loss.
“These hard-won achievements demonstrate the effectiveness of The Crown Estate’s commitment to its triple values of ‘commercialism, integrity and stewardship’, and the ability of a principled business with a long-term focus to respond to varying market conditions,” Sir Stuart Hampson stresses in his chairman’s statement.
“Our ability to contribute £267.1m to the nation’s finances is a strong motivating force in the business, but we are increasingly aware that our total contribution to the UK extends well beyond the profit we make. Continuing investment and imaginative management of our assets goes hand-in-hand with engagement with the communities in which we work,” he added.
London’s Regent Street and St James’s — both within sight of the Estate’s offices in New Burlington Street — continue to provide the biggest returns with eight projects under way, containing 615,000sq ft of lettable space. “Once again London’s West End has been a major focus for us,” said chief executive, Alison Nimmo, who last year delivered 275,000sq ft of prime space within the capital.
“The demand for flagship stores has brought international names such as J.Crew and Karl Lagerfeld to Regent Street and luxury brands such as Osprey and Tiger of Sweden to St James’s.,” she said. “We’ve also attracted an impressive list of restaurants, including Angela Hartnett’s Café Murano and Philippe Le Roux’s Villandry, further reinforcing the attractiveness of the West End as a destination of choice.”
During 2013-2014 The Crown Estates undertook almost £1bn of capital activity, including £248m of expenditure and development, £264m of acquisitions, and disposing of £457m worth of land and buildings.
“Whilst the strength of the investment market has limited our opportunities to buy in the West End, it has afforded us the opportunity to sell well, both in London and in the regions,” said the 48-year-old Nimmo, who took over as chief executive in 2012
“Nevertheless, where we’ve found value we have made some astute purchases, most notably further strengthening our regional retail portfolio with the Silverlink in Newcastle, Coliseum in Cheshire and Banbury Gateway in Oxfordshire, and the Ellington Estate, a 3,500-acre rural acquisition in Northumberland.”
The organisation’s rural and coastal assets now total more than 343,000 acres of agricultural land and forests, residential and commercial property, mineral rights, renewable energy, aquaculture, marinas, ports and harbours, and around half of the UK’s shoreline.
Summing up her report, Nimmo said: “It’s been another fantastic year for The Crown Estate and with a portfolio now valued at close to £10bn, this record performance shows that from the heartlands of our real estate business to our investment offshore — we’re truly at our best when we’re actively managing.”
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