Mark Allan, Chief Executive of St. Modwen, commented:
“2018 has been another positive year for us. With £529m of disposals, we made substantial progress on our objective to focus our portfolio on sectors with the best structural growth prospects and reduce our borrowings, whilst we continued to grow housebuilding volumes and industrial and logistics development activity. Despite the ongoing uncertainty in the wider UK economy, structural growth drivers in these two key sectors remain positive, so following the significant repositioning over the past 18 months, we are now well placed to deliver a meaningful improvement in our return on capital and earnings in the coming years.”
Rupert Joseland, Property Director for St. Modwen West and Wales, said:
“2018 has been a significant year for Wales as our long-term developments have gathered pace to coincide with the recent changes in the political landscape and increased demand for quality space.
“Our speculative programme at Glan Llyn’s Celtic Business Park is more important than ever for St. Modwen, for Newport and for South Wales, as the abolishment of the Severn Bridge tolls has removed a considerable barrier for occupiers reviewing locations on the M4 corridor, either side of the River Severn.
“One of our flagship developments, Swansea University Bay Campus, saw ‘The College’, the brand-new teaching facility on the beachfront, complete in September as part of the decade-long venture between the University and Navitas to support international students. The accompanying student residence, the ‘Rod Jones Hall’, also completed in the new year, providing international students with 411 en-suite rooms overlooking the bay. The long-term rolling programme of construction at the Bay Campus could see the site expand to over 2m sq ft within the next five years and achieve its vision of becoming a world-class educational establishment.
“We will continue to invest across South Wales in line with our purpose of changing places and creating better futures, and inject even more inward investment into the country, creating vibrant new communities for generations to come.”