One of Britain’s biggest privately-owned property companies has achieved the best results yet, more than doubling its annual profits to smash the £100 million barrier.
Midlands/Coleshill-based IM Properties (IMP) recorded annual pre-tax earnings of £103.2m for 2015, up by a remarkable 242% from £42.5m in the previous year.
The record figure was achieved on turnover up 30% to £164m, and although the business made significant investments in land and development projects during the year, it still ended the trading period with impressive cash reserves and access to extensive credit lines.
Managing director Tim Wooldridge says IMP also increased the value of its investment portfolio, which includes projects under construction, by a solid 20% – from £675m to £811m.
Wooldridge says whilst a record performance had been achieved this year, they anticipate a more gradual growth in the coming year with natural short term uncertainty stemming from BREXIT.
“We have enjoyed an exceptional year and are well equipped to deal with any market volatility. The sale of a £200m industrial portfolio to a Malaysian pension fund earlier this year, has deepened our war chest and whilst we have already made a series of acquisitions this year, we have the resources to take advantage of opportunities as and when they arise.”
Wooldridge adds. “We’ve been strengthening our in-house teams over the last year in readiness for a period of growth. Staff numbers were up from 40 to 71 in 2015, and we’ve got the financial strength to back our teams in the marketplace.
“If you benchmark us against other property companies in the industry we are doing extremely well, achieving a 27% return on investment (ROI) during the trading period, which is another record high.
“Clearly there is uncertainty across the property market at present and we will have to see how it all unfolds over the coming weeks. We are confident that the strong fundamentals underpinning the UK economy will prevail in the medium term.
“We are fleet-of-foot strategically, because we aren’t burdened by a complex shareholder structure, and our decision-making is quick and uncomplicated.We are very confident in the robust nature of our business model, which has consistently delivered profitable growth for the last three decades. It continues to be based on performance, reliability and delivery and we will continue to identify opportunities this year – for ourselves or on a partnership basis, depending on the scale of projects.”
