Blackrock International Land has reported a pretax loss of €3.5 million for the six months of the end of June, down from the €8 million loss in the comparable period last year.
The Dublin-listed property investor had first-half net rental income of €6.9 million, marginally lower than 2008. The company said property values in markets where it operates, Ireland, the UK and Europe, remain difficult.
“The few transactions that have taken place have been at prices that do not appear to reflect fair value,” the company said, adding it was not planning any disposals due to the depressed state of the property market.
Net debt rose to €185 million in the period due to exchange rate movements. Blackrock said the loan-to-value ratio on its portfolio stood at 53 per cent.
Blackrock said in the “absence of reliable market evidence, the board has not commissioned independent valuations of the group’s portfolio for the interim financial statements”.
As a result it valued its overall portfolio at €384 million at the end of June, up from €340 million at the start of the year. Blackrock believes that the value of its Irish and UK assets are flat or have risen, once the impact of investment in the assets and fair value adjustments are factored in.
The company has reported a 2.5 per cent decline in net asset value to 25 cent, primarily reflecting losses due to exchange rate movements and equity accounted investments.
In a note to brokers Davy Stockbrokers said net rental income had proven robust and said that 76 per cent of the property portfolio was income producing, with no defaults among lessees during the year to date.
“Given the robust income performance and high interest cover, we remain confident that an agreement can be reached regarding its loan facilities, which suggests that solvency fears are overdone and the share price is undervalued.”