Conygar Investment : Annual Report 2021

The Conygar Investment

Company PLC

Report and accounts 30 September 2021

The Conygar Investment Company PLC

Registered in England No. 04907617

CONTENTS

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The Conygar Investment Company PLC

DIRECTORS AND ADVISERS

The Board of Directors

N J Hamway (Non-Executive Chairman)

R T E Ware (Chief Executive)

F N G Jones (Property Director)

C J D Ware (Property Director)

D Baldwin (Finance Director)

B S Sandhu (Non-Executive Director)

Company Secretary

D Baldwin

Registered office 1 Duchess Street London W1W 6AN

The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC

36 St Andrew Square

Edinburgh EH2 2YB

Registered number

04907617

Website

www.conygar.com

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The Conygar Investment Company PLC

CHAIRMAN'S & CHIEF EXECUTIVE'S STATEMENT

Results summary

We present the Group's results for the year ended 30 September 2021.

The Group's net asset value per share has increased by 51.6p (31%) in the year to 217.4p as at 30 September 2021 (2020: 165.8p). The profit before tax, which includes a £29.2 million unrealised surplus from the revaluation of our investment properties, was £28.2 million (2020: loss of £8.2 million).

As at 30 September 2020, the Group's investment in The Island Quarter, Nottingham, was reported at cost as the fair value at that date was not readily determinable. However, the substantial progress made during the year to corroborate the project's design, market comparables and development cash flows, as well as the significant progress made on planning and the commencement of development, has enabled this 36-acre site to be more reliably valued by Knight Frank LLP as at 30 September 2021.

The resulting valuation of £70.5 million, which represents a £28.7 million (69%) surplus over cost, provides support and justification for the direction of travel taken to date as we start to unlock, for the benefit of all stakeholders, the full potential of a project which will, in due course, provide an exciting new destination as well as substantial investment and employment opportunities for the city of Nottingham. Further details of the basis and valuation sensitivities are set out in note 12.

Since acquiring The Island Quarter in 2016, we have made significant headway in developing the concept and strategy and over the last year have submitted three detailed planning applications for the early phase developments. Two of these have subsequently been granted with the third, which includes two hotels, residential apartments and co-working space, expected to be considered by the planning committee at the end of 2021. The detailed applications granted to date have enabled us to commence the construction of the first phase, which includes a 21,500 square foot food and beverage-led building, planned for completion by Easter 2022, and initiate the on-site preliminary groundworks for a 700-bed student accommodation scheme which we hope to have operational for the September 2023 university intake.

In addition, the valuation of our retail park at Cross Hands, Carmarthenshire, has increased in the year by 7.6% from £16.5 million at 30 September 2020 to £17.8 million at 30 September 2021, in line with the increase in capital values reported across the retail warehousing sector.

Retailers with a predominantly out-of-town presence have been much better protected from the rise of online retailing than those with a more traditional high street focus where click-and-collect, larger car parking provisions and the drive-to convenience have proved more desirable, as highlighted by their higher footfall throughout the pandemic and quicker recovery post-lockdowns.

At our retail park in Cross Hands, from which over 70% of the Group's rental income is currently derived, we have collected 97% of the rents receivable in the year which reduces to 92% for the Group as a whole. Of the remainder, 2% are expected to be received in full by the end of the calendar year, 1% are on deferred payment terms to be settled in full by March 2022 and 5% have been provided for in these financial statements.

This is a pleasing result, particularly given the volatility in the retail sector throughout the pandemic, which confirms the strength and adaptability for the vast majority of the Group's tenants.

During the year we have also made good progress on the rest of the portfolio, the brief highlights of which are set out below.

At Holyhead Waterfront in Anglesey we have submitted a further application, to supplement the outline consent granted in 2014, for a waterfront development to include both residential apartments and a 250-berth marina, which we are very hopeful will provide a catalyst for the regeneration of Holyhead.

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