Workspace Understands Work Space

Workspace had a successful year, sticking resolutely to our strategy of driving value by growing income through increased rent and occupancy while adding to the value of our assets through focused refurbishment and redevelopment. I am pleased to report that this has delivered a strong set of results for the year.

Our CEO, Jamie Hopkins, has brought a renewed energy to bear which has resulted in a clear focus on our priorities, driving our performance and moving the Company back into the FTSE250. We achieved strong growth in revenue and trading profit for the year. Group net rental income was £47.1m, an underlying increase of 6%, trading profit after interest was £17.9m, an increase of 12%, and EPRA NAV per share was £3.48, an increase of 13%.

Based on these results and the Company's future prospects, the Board is recommending the payment of a final dividend of 6.45p per share (a total of 9.67p for the year) to be paid on 2 August 2013, an increase of 10% on last year. This is in line with our progressive dividend policy.

During the year we continued to deploy the funds raised in our 2011 Rights Issue. We executed a focused capital expenditure programme to refurbish and extend existing assets and create buildings that suit our strategy whilst disposing of those that don't. The result is an integrated portfolio of core buildings that we actively manage, increasing rental values.

We also refined our debt profile, lengthening the terms and diversifying the sources of funding. The successful refinance announced on 11 June 2013 alongside the Retail Bond issued earlier in the year will have a significant positive impact on the flexibility of our operational capabilities.

Throughout the year, our Board has played an active role in helping guide the Company and we remain committed to a strong succession approach. John Bywater's retirement as a Non-Executive Director will occur in July this year and he leaves with our thanks for his long-standing contribution over the last nine years. Joining us, we welcome Chris Girling and Damon Russell. Chris has a strong background in finance and management while Damon brings a wealth of experience across the telecommunications, internet, digital and media sectors. Ensuring the long-term strength of our Board is a priority and we will be making a further Non-Executive Director appointment in due course.

We are also aware of our wider responsibilities in the communities where we work, as well as being conscious of our environmental impact and we remain committed to strong health and safety and energy sustainability principles. We are proud that we have once again been included in the FTSE4Good Index and that we have recently been awarded the BITC CommunityMark. We will continue to do the right things by all of our stakeholders.

The Company is working hard so that our customers and our employees flourish, our communities and environment stay vibrant and our shareholders are rewarded for their support. The achievements during the year are many and I would particularly like to thank our Workspace employees for delivering another strong performance.

The Board and I believe that we are clear on our objectives, have the right strategy and team in place to achieve them and, as a result, are ideally positioned to take advantage of the strength of the London economy. The businesses we host are critical in driving the UK's growth and by serving them with focus and energy we are confident that we will maintain our strong business momentum.

Daniel Kitchen
Non-Executive Chairman