News and Press Releases

First Property Group CEO Ben Habib on the Share Talk Ltd podcast.

He said: “We’ve got £21m sitting in the bank and we will deploy that along with our client money to find assets that we think are undervalued or have real growth potential coming out of the pandemic.”

Founded and CEO of First Property Group plc @benhabib6 (#FPO.L) Interview @FpropPlc https://t.co/A19nrPI7Ym

— Share_Talk ™ (@Share_Talk) November 18, 2020

Writing in The Daily Express, Fprop CEO Ben Habib renews his calls for business rates reform to aid retail and hospitality.

“Unless action is taken soon, ministers will be directly responsible for a wave of failed firms and redundancies when the rates ‘holiday’ ends,” he says.

In The @Daily_Express our CEO @benhabib6 renews calls for business rates reform to aid retail and hospitality.

“Unless action is taken soon, ministers will be directly responsible for a wave of failed firms and redundancies when the rates ‘holiday’ ends.”https://t.co/juFQAMohxO

— First Property Group (@FpropPlc) November 6, 2020

Fprop CEO Ben Habib argues that Business Rates tax reform is needed to help tenants, landlords, and the economy during the Coronavirus crisis. 

He writes in City AM: “By its nature, the burden of this tax falls hardest on startups, small companies, and businesses experiencing difficulties. They have little income and often have to bear this tax out of capital — which is also, more often than not, scarce.”

Covid is an opportunity to scrap business rates altogether https://t.co/27XXZui2pk pic.twitter.com/CfzOj062v9

— City A.M. (@CityAM) October 16, 2020

Adding: “Calls for change are growing louder, and will reach a shriek when the March rates reintroduction takes its damaging hold. But by then it will be too late. The government must act now, and act boldly.”

Fprop shares were discussed by Simon Thompson and Investors Chronicle Editor John Hughman on “The Alpha Podcast: Bargain hunting.” Listen here from 7:29 to 10:26. 

Alpha podcast: John Hughman talks to Simon Thompson about the outlook for global stock markets and the strategies he’s using to identify companies fit for the Covid era https://t.co/uSepjlbh9J

— Investors Chronicle (@IChronicle) October 12, 2020

Thompson says: “Not all companies are actually doing badly… You can stock pick investment opportunities amongst the rubble… This valuation is absolutely crazy…”

Simon Thompson covers our shares in Investors Chronicle. He highlights our high rent collection rates and argues that Fprop shares should be worth more. 

He says: “Trading on a 36 per cent discount to net asset value (NAV), and offering a prospective dividend yield of 5 per cent, First Property’s long-term record of value creation for shareholders – the company has posted annualised growth in net assets (including dividends) of 22.7 per cent over the past decade and paid out cumulative dividends of 13.32p a share since I included the shares, at 18.5p, in my 2011 Bargain Shares Portfolio – is completely at odds with the miserly valuation. Buy.”

Our Annual General Meeting (AGM), held today, can be watched back on the Investor Meet Company website.

The accompanying RNS statement can be viewed by clicking here. The key points were continued high levels of group cash, a maintained dividend, and rent collection rates well above 90% in the UK, Poland, and Romania, despite challenges linked to coronavirus.

Join @FpropPlc investor presentation TODAY at 12:00, for all the company insights – Click below to register. #FPO

— Investor Meet Company (@InvestorMeetCo) September 23, 2020

This informative presentation on our preliminary results for the year to 31 March 2020 was given by management and CEO Ben Habib on June 25, 2020.

To make sure you are invited to our next presentation held via Investor Meet Company, please sign up for the service here. A PDF of the report can be found here.

Fprop CEO Ben Habib appears on “Market Musing with Fairbairn and Russell podcast. They discussed Interest rates, investment, and the success of Fprop.

Mr Habib said: “I do think [interest rates will stay low]… there is not a central bank in the developed world that wants anything other than ultra-low interest rates.”

Listen to the full episode by clicking here.

Fprop CEO @benhabib6 talks Interest rates & investment on the @MarketMusing podcast.

“I do think [interest rates will stay low]… there is not a central bank in the developed world that wants anything other than ultra-low interest rates.”

Listen here 👉 https://t.co/uUzrH8VegG pic.twitter.com/SoAz9bzx6i

— First Property Group (@FpropPlc) July 9, 2020

Writing in the Investor’s Chronicle, Simon Thompson says he is “not concerned” by the “modest decline” in year-end net asset value (NAV), as this partly reflects the revaluation of several group properties which have still proved very strong investments. 

He also points towards our multiple income streams and relatively high recent rent collection rates, particularly in the UK, which points towards “the quality of tenants who account for two-thirds of third-party funds.”

Thompson concluded: “The company has generated annualised growth in net assets (including dividends) of 22.7 per cent a year over the past decade, the primary reason why the shares have produced a 155 per cent total return since I included them in my 2011 Bargain Shares Portfolio.

“On a modest price/earnings (PE) ratio of 9.5, offering a 4.5 per cent dividend yield, and on a 33 per cent discount to NAV, the shares remain on my buy list.”

First Property Group plc (AIM: FPO), the property fund manager and investor with operations in the United Kingdom and Central Europe, today announces its preliminary results for the twelve months ended 31 March 2020. 

First Property Group Chief Executive Ben Habib gives an interview to Polish retail news specialist Retailnet.pl, in which discusses the recent economic and health crisis. 

“The Polish government must be praised for how it handled the current crisis,” he says. “They reacted quickly, and help was directed primarily to those sectors of the economy that suffered the most.”

Chief Executive Ben Habib appeared on the Market Musings with Fairbairn & Russell podcats, to discuss his career in business and the history of the company

“Since 2007, First Property Group… has had a cumulative growth in net assets of 25 percent per annum… from the peak of the last boom to the current position,” he told the presenters.

On the @MarketMusing podcast, @FpropPlc Chief Exec @benhabib6 says:

“Since 2007, First Property Group… has had a cumulative growth in net assets of 25 percent per annum… from the peak of the last boom to the current position.”

Listen in full here 👉https://t.co/jH7yNxYL8P pic.twitter.com/NKu4az4Pht

— First Property Group (@FpropPlc) May 6, 2020

First Property Group Chief Executive Ben Habib writes a column in The Property Chronicle magazine explaining why he continues to invest in Poland.

“The country continues to tick all the boxes; a virile economy, prudent spending, and sensible management of the COVID-19 crisis have maintained my faith in this economy, which I started to invest in back in 2005,” he writes.

“And amazingly, they are already able to start easing the crippling lockdown restrictions imposed across the continent, beginning last week. This is critical, as those countries which emerge earliest and with good balance sheets will do the best.”

Simon Thompson analyses First Property Group’s recent announcements on sales we’ve completed, new leases we’ve signed, and our share price. The columnist reports the sale of our share in the CH8 tower in Warsaw “generating an eye-catching internal rate of return (IRR) of 63 per cent since its acquisition in 2014” and argues “there is still a glaring valuation anomaly still to exploit…”

He adds: “Effectively, you are getting a free ride on these investments and a fund management business that manages £602m of third-party assets even though the company has a track record of outperformance, delivering an IRR of 25 per cent (including dividends) since 2006.”

Simon Thompson: Stock picking value open to future gains https://t.co/MaKbWKZ26N

— Investors Chronicle (@IChronicle) May 4, 2020

First Property Group PLC, the property fund manager and investor, announces the sale of its [50.3] per cent interest in the CH8 Tower – also known as Chałubinskiego 8 – in central Warsaw for €44 million (£38 million).

Chief Executive Ben Habib argues the deal reflects the strength of Poland’s economy as commercial property transactions hit record rates ahead of coronavirus crisis. The sale nets Group their largest ever cash windfall of £16.7 million (€19.6 million), substantially increasing their future purchasing power into the hundreds of millions.

“Cash in on a free ride” Simon Thompson points out that if the sale of CH8 completes that “after the repayment of the bank loan secured against it, First Property will receive €19.6m (£17.8m) of cash proceeds to boost its proforma cash pile to £26.4m, a sum that is only £2m shy of the company’s market value of £28.5m. Non-recourse borrowings will be slashed to around €52m (£47.3m), secured against the remaining eight directly held properties that are worth €70m (£63.6m). Effectively, you are getting a free ride on the £16.3m equity in the eight remaining directly held properties even though they generate an annualised yield of around 10 per cent on market value, significantly higher than the 1.84 per cent average annual interest charged on the debt, so produce strong cash flow. You also have a free ride on First Property’s investments in 10 of the 13 funds it manages…worth a further £30.3m. The depressed market capitalisation also fails to attribute any value whatsoever to the asset management business which should generate an operating profit of £2m on £4m of management fee income in the 12 months to 31 March 2020.”

Fprop opinion on Polish & Romanian property markets.