Lord Sugar: No dividend this year
The holding company of Apprentice star Lord Alan Sugar ended up in the red this year.
Amshold – the group through which Sugar manages its property investments – posted a loss of £29 million for the year to June 30. This compares with a £15.2 million pre-tax in 2022.
London’s property investment market was “difficult, with high interest rates, uncertainty and falling valuations”, the company said in its annual accounts.
Rent collections from some tenants were also ‘challenging’, while returns remained low.
No dividend was paid this year, compared to £90m paid out in 2022. And the document warned that while a beleaguered property market presented ‘opportunities for investment’, this was putting pressure on the company’s existing portfolio.
It said future rate hikes would put “further pressure” on valuations.
Amshold sold a number of investments, including two properties, for a combined sum of £56.3 million. They were bought for £35.6 million.