History
UK
Initial investments were made in the UK in the 1980’s concentrating on mainly high yielding office properties in central, western and south-west London.
The UK portfolio of 26 properties is currently valued at £346.8m (31 December 2009) and now represents 42.7% by value of the properties held by the Group. The annualised contracted rental income is £24.8m which is secured by over 50.0% of the portfolio being let to Government tenants, the majority of which are on leases in excess of 10 years.
SWEDEN
The Swedish portfolio consists of Vänerparken, a 45,500 sq m office and leisure complex acquired in 1998.
Vänerparken was valued at £51.3m at 31 December 2009, representing 6.3% of the Group portfolio. It generates an annualised contracted rental income of £5.8m.
This investment was augmented with the purchase of Solna Business Park, Stockholm in mid 1999. This added a further 112,900 square metres of mixed office, warehouse and light industrial space to the Swedish portfolio. The properties in Solna underwent a major refurbishment and re-letting process that added a further 15,000 sq m of lettable space. Solna Business Park was sold in June 2006 for £267.0m.
The portfolio was further enhanced in January 2002 with the purchase of Lövgärdet, which comprised 1,282 apartments and 33,500 sq m of commercial space. In February 2006 we took advantage of the strong investment market in Sweden and sold our investment at Lövgärdet.
FRANCE
The French portfolio was valued at £222.8m at 31 December 2009, consisting of 25 properties (including 1 in Luxembourg) representing 27.4% of the Group portfolio. It generates an annualised contracted rental income of £18.8m.
When Citadel Holdings plc was formed and listed on the Alternative Investment Market in 1997 with a holding of five properties in Lyon, CLS held a 12% stake and undertook its management. By June 2000 the portfolio had increased to 23 properties, mainly situated in Paris, generating annualised profit before tax of over £4m. In September 2000 CLS Holdings plc acquired Citadel Holdings plc on the basis of three new shares in CLS for every five held in Citadel.
GERMANY
In the summer of 2005 we took the decision to invest in Germany, a market where we could see good returns being achieved on selective purchases.
At 31 December 2009 the German portfolio comprised 16 properties with a valuation of £192.1m (23.6% of the Group portfolio), generating annualised contracted rental income of £14.6m.
