Delek reports 2007 pre-tax profit of £107.1m, eyes official listing

UK property firm Delek Global Real Estate (DGRE) on Thursday reported pre-tax profit for the full-year 2007 of £107.1mln (EUR 136.55mln). DGRE added that results are not comparable to 2006 due to a major reorganisation at the time of its listing on London's AIM in April 2007. The company said it intends to move from AIM to the official market as soon as possible, but gave no specific date.

Earnings per share came in at 30.1 pence. The company said its net asset value (NAV) stood at £605.4mln at year-end 2007. The company said it would pay out a final dividend of 7 pence, taking the total dividend for the year to 11 pence.

DGRE revealed its had set aside a provision of CHF 3.3mln (EUR 2.1mln) to cover the potential cost of the arbitration proceedings launched by Swiss firm Jelmoli. The company said it had also written off around £1.38mln (EUR 1.76mln) previously granted to the Swiss company as shareholder loans. Jelmoli Holding began arbitration proceedings against a DGRE-led consortium in December 2007, after the consortium pulled out of buying Jelmoli's real estate portfolio.

DGRE said it is well-positioned to withstand the current uncertainties of the global property and credit markets due to its high quality portfolio with high residual values, let to tenants with strong credit ratings on a long-term basis, and with full rates of occupancy over a wide geographical spread. 'Our business model has proven resilient to such market conditions with the portfolio generating strong and growing cash flows. We own an excellent high-quality and diversified investment portfolio of £2.27bn, 98% of which is let on leases with nearly seventeen years unexpired in good locations,' ceo Ilik Rosanski said.