Profits spike to near record level at property giant…

Profits spike to near record level at property giant Bruntwood after Legal & General joint venture success

Profits at property giant Bruntwood have spiked after the success of its joint venture with Legal & General.

The Manchester-headquartered group has posted pre-tax profits of £75.2m for the 12 months to September 30, 2022, up from the £44.9m it achieved during the prior year.

The total is the group's second highest on record in its 46-year history.

The group said its bumper year was helped by the growth in income from its Bruntwood SciTech 50/50 joint venture with Legal & General, which had the best year since its formation in 2018.

The joint venture's pre-tax profits jumped from £17.1m to £114m over the same period.

Its net asset value increased 36% to £321m while its total assets under management rose from £647.4m to £858.4m.

The group's net asset value increased 10.7% to £671.5m and its total assets under management £2bn, up from £1.8bn.

Bruntwood chief executive Chris Oglesby said: "We have always looked beyond the short term to base our investments around the strategic trends we see reshaping our towns and cities.

"This approach, from the formation of Bruntwood SciTech in 2018 to the Pioneer programme of forward-thinking, flexible workspaces that we launched long-before the pandemic, is the foundation of this year’s strong financial performance.

"We have aligned our products and proposition with the businesses and organisations driving the future of the UK economy in innovation-linked sectors like tech and digital, life sciences and their supporting ecosystems, all of which continue to show huge potential in many of our regional cities.

"As we now lean into the challenges presented by the end of another economic cycle, this will remain our focus.

"We will continue to focus our energies on investing in assets, whether that’s for Bruntwood SciTech or Works, in such a way that meets the needs of modern business and industry, targeting growth into new and existing cities around the UK."

Turnover figures for the group and joint venture's latest financial year have not been released.

For the previous period, the group's turnover totalled £122.5m while Bruntwood SciTech's was £51.7m.

Bruntwood has properties in Manchester, Cheshire, Birmingham, Liverpool and Leeds.

Bruntwood SciTech chief executive Kate Lawlor added: "We recognised that 2021 was a tipping point for the business with our expansions and gaining real momentum with our development pipeline.

"We kept up the pace in 2022 and remain focussed on our goal of having a £2bn asset base within five years of formation.

"Innovation, science and technology are the future of the UK economy, especially in its regional cities.

"We are helping to invest into the capacity of these places to support, scale and sustain successful innovation-led businesses.

"This year will be just as exciting with completions of our two landmark schemes in Birmingham, the start of construction at Met Tower in Glasgow and the next phases of the masterplans at Citylabs, Manchester Science Park, and Circle Square, as well as the unveiling of the masterplans for ID Manchester and Melbourn Science Park.

"And, we will continue to place sustainability at the centre of our projects ensuring a long-term positive impact on the places and communities that we are operating within.

"We also remain in active discussions with potential partners in new cities as our geographic expansion continues.

"While we’re mindful about the recessionary climate we enter in 2023 and we don’t anticipate to repeat the boost in profits seen in 2022, our long-term approach, based on investing in the specialist infrastructure needed to support science and tech businesses, should see our assets fare better in any revaluation movements experienced across the wider real estate market."

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