LONDON (ShareCast) - (ShareCast News) - Brownfield land and property development firm Harworth Group returned another strong operational performance in the second half of its trading year.
Coupled with the "indicative outcome" of the independent valuation of the group's property portfolio, Harworth's financial performance over the six months leading to 31 December was slated to be ahead of expectations.

Value gains had been highlighted as being "appreciably" ahead and EPRA NNNAV to be moderately ahead of forecasts.

Profit excluding value gains was also anticipated to fall in line with predictions.

Harworth's balance sheet and cash flow remained strong after investing all £27.1m raised during its March 2017 equity placing.

Owen Michaelson, chief executive officer, said, "The group had a strong first half of the year as highlighted in our interim results. This momentum has continued into the second half, with full-year results anticipated to exceed our expectations. Sales on consented land at our key development sites have been achieved at above book value and good progress on planning and lettings has driven the growth in the valuation of our portfolio."

"This robust position reflects the underlying strength of our business model and the ability of our management team to deliver the majority of our value gains. We remain confident in the long-term fundamentals of the residential and commercial markets in the North of England and the Midlands. This, in turn, gives us the assurance we need to continue to invest in new sites to deliver future shareholder value," he added.

The firm expected to announce its full-year results for the financial year ended 31 December 2017 on 6 March.

As of 1645 GMT, shares had gained 3.23% to 112.00p.

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