Final Results

CHAIRMAN'S STATEMENT

Results

Revenue for the year was £4,633,000 (2015: £3,380,000). In addition, profit on disposal of property investments amounted to £593,000 (2015: £nil). Profit before tax was £1,355,000 (2015: £461,000).

The Board is proposing a final dividend of 1.00p per share. The final dividend is subject to shareholder approval at the AGM and will be paid on the 7 October 2016 to those shareholders on the register at close of business on 9 September 2016. With the interim dividend of 1.00p per share (2015: 1.50p per share) plus the special dividend of 8.00p per share already paid, the dividend for the year will amount to 10.00p per share (2015: 2.25p per share).

The Commercial Property Market

The market generally has seen reasonably strong demand from both tenants and investors. However this demand diminished somewhat in the lead up to the EU referendum. This was particularly noticeable in the investment market. The stamp duty increase of 1% didn't help and data from the Investment Property Databank (IPD) showed capital values in Q1 2016 falling for the first time for some years albeit by only 0.2%. UK investors have been net sellers in Q4 2015 and Q1 2016 and the outlook post Brexit is currently uncertain.

Business Overview

As reported in the Interim Results, our excellent performance this year was significantly influenced by the fees and profits earned on the sale of 145 Leadenhall Street, a property owned by the SHIPS 14 Syndicate in which the Group co-invested and acted as adviser. The sale of the property and the payment of a special dividend of 8p per share was announced on 1 September 2015.

During the year, we established two new SHIPS funds to acquire freehold office buildings in Botolph Lane adjacent to Monument Tube Station in the City and a building in Sekforde Street, Clerkenwell. They will become vacant by the end of 2016 when refurbishment works will commence. We anticipate having them available to let in 2017.

The underlying business continued to perform well with all departments performing much in line with last year. Valuation instructions increased significantly, reflecting increased bank lending to the commercial property sector. The Valuation Office has again slowed down settlement of Rating Appeals which affected turnover, but we still settled some significant assessments.

Outlook

We have started the year well and have completed the sale of over £50m of office and industrial investments.

The unexpected vote to leave the EU has had a destabilising effect on the market and the uncertainties are likely to influence it for some time to come.

Clients are delaying decisions to sell and purchase investment property and this is not helpful for our transaction business.

The effect of this is impossible to predict but we are debt free and have cash reserves. We are well placed to weather challenging times as we have done on numerous times in the past.

I hope that later in the year the market will establish a pattern and give confidence to our clients to move forward.

DAVID FLETCHER

CHAIRMAN

12 July 2016

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME

for the year ended 30 April 2016

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION

as at 30 April 2016

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS

for the year ended 30 April 2016

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN EQUITY

For the year ended 30 April 2016

 NOTES

1. Basis of preparation

The financial information set out above, which has been prepared on the basis of the accounting policies as set out in the prior year's accounts, does not comprise the company's statutory financial statements for the year ended 30 April 2016.  While the financial information included in this preliminary announcement has been prepared in accordance with the recognition and measurement criteria of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs) as adopted by the European Union, this announcement does not itself contain sufficient information to comply with IFRSs. Statutory financial statements for the previous financial year ended 30 April 2015 have been delivered to the Registrar of Companies. The auditors' report on those financial statements was unqualified and did not contain any statement under section 498(2) or (3) of the Companies Act 2006 and did not include references to any matters to which the auditor drew attention by way of emphasis.  The statutory accounts for the year ended 30 April 2016 have not yet been delivered to the Registrar of Companies, nor have the auditors yet reported on them.

2.  Dividends

3. Earnings per share