Landmark Investments celebrates 15 years
Landmark Investments Group, which this year celebrates 15 years in business, announced this week it achieved pre-tax profits of £2.9 million to year end September 2014, up 142% (from £1.2 million) on the previous year.
Set up in 2000 by, then aged 19, Mark Hawthorn, Landmark Investments Group main area of activity is the purchase of ground rents, also known as the freehold, of residential and commercial properties.
Mark Hawthorn, director, Landmark Investments Group said: “As we enter our 15th year of business it is pleasing to see the portfolio perform and grow as we expect. We continue to innovate within our field and are well recognised for being both proactive and pragmatic in our dealings. In the low interest rate environment the value of stock is continuing to improve and we’re as competitive as the much larger institutional style investors who have entered the market”
Highlights of the year included:
- 171 transactions completed in 2014, with over 200 projected for 2015
- Commercial ground rent creation and acquisition is now forming a rapidly growing part of the business as property owners become aware of the options available to them
- In the summer, Landmark sold a £6m portfolio at 3% yield and received a refinancing package to provide over £10 million of capital to invest in ground rents
- The company entered a strategic partnership which allows Landmark to do much larger deals on behalf of the partner. Last year these deals totalled £81m with £110m targeted for 2015
- Successfully exited first non-property investment, ThermaVein, with a sale to its management team
Mark said: “While the profit is pleasing, our overriding focus is to continue to grow the portfolio and the profits will always follow. We are very lowly geared at present, well under 30%, which allows us a sizable amount of spending power when required. We fully anticipate our portfolio value exceeding £25m in 2015 and we can go much higher should the opportunities be there.”
Landmark Investment Group’s impressive results were reported in the Manchester Evening News and Place Northwest