Liberty profits soar to £115m

DONALD GORDON, founder and major shareholder of Lakeside-to-MetroCentre shopping centre owner Liberty International, picked up a full-year dividend payment of £18.8m as he signed off a thumping set of annual results, his last as chairman.

Gordon, who retires in June, promised that further gains for the group were still to be had with income over the next few years 'expected to benefit strongly from major rent review cycles'.

Liberty has an occupancy level of more than 99%, with only 11 empty shop units at its 1,443 sites, and takes around 10% of its rent as a percentage of turnover its retail tenants generate.

Rent reviews are due to start this year at the massive Lakeside mall at Thurrock, where tenants have enjoyed bumper takings on the back of Britain's growing love of US-style, out-of-town shopping.

Liberty's property assets swelled in value to £5.34bn at 31 December, a 12% uplift on last year. The firm's net asset value per share rose 12.3% to 1017p, 19p above market expectations.

Pre-tax profits were up 11% to £115.7m, at the top end of analysts' forecasts, and Liberty made a £42.6m exceptional gain from selling £285m of assets at a profit over book value.

A final dividend of 14.1p takes the full-year dividend up to 26.5p, 6% more than last year, handing Gordon's family-controlled 22% stake £18.8m.