RNS announcement

Palace Capital plc

("Palace Capital" or the "Company")

PALACE CAPITAL EXTENDS FINANCING FACILITIES

Palace Capital, the property investment company that focusses on commercial property mainly outside London, announces that it has taken advantage of the historically low 10-year interest swap rates and completed the refinancing of the existing loan facility on Broad Street Plaza, Halifax.   When Palace Capital provided a Portfolio Update in May 2016, it stated that the Company had received credit approval from a major insurance company to replace the existing short term facility of £15.2m, assumed by Palace Capital in March 2016 as part of the Broad Street Plaza, Halifax acquisition.

The Company has secured a new ten year, fixed rate loan of £15.25m at 2.9035% including margin, with Scottish Widows. This loan provides security of funding costs over a ten-year period matched against rental income on the property which has a fourteen-year weighted average unexpired lease term to break. 

Following the Company entering into the new facility with Scottish Widows the Company's average debt maturity has been extended from 3.9 years to 5.5 years.

Neil Sinclair, the Chief Executive of Palace Capital, commented:

"This is excellent news for the Company. As we expand the scale of our portfolio, we are diversifying our funding platform and we have received a significant amount of long-term support from major lending partners. 

"This new facility provides us with secured cashflows, net of debt servicing, of £1.36m per annum, rising to £1.51m per annum next year.  We will be receiving an initial pre-tax return on our equity invested in Broad Street Plaza of 15.00%, rising to 16.8% in August 2017, secured for the next ten years.

"An added bonus is that we will be able to claim considerable capital allowances against Broad Street Plaza which have not been claimed since the development was completed in 2012.

"Palace Capital is in strong financial health and the Company has already taken advantage of the recent uncertainty in the commercial property market following the June EU Referendum result by putting in place this loan facility.  Our portfolio is performing well and we will continue with our strategy to improve the properties we own and recycling our capital into those assets that offer the best potential performance over the medium to long-term."

-ends-

Date: 7 July 2016

For further information contact:

Palace Capital plc

Neil Sinclair, Chief Executive

Stephen Silvester, Finance Director

Tel. 44 (0)20 3301 8331

Allenby Capital Limited (Nominated Adviser and Joint Broker)

Nick Naylor / James Reeve

Tel. 44 (0)20 3328 5656

Arden Partners plc (Joint Broker)

Chris Hardie / Ciaran Walsh

Tel. 44 (0)207 614 5917

Capital Access Group (Financial PR)

Simon Courtenay / Jessica Bradford Tel. 44 (0)20 3763 3400