Trading Update
Summary by AI BETAClose X
16 July 2026
HELICAL PLC
("Helical" or the "Company")
Trading Update for the Period Since 1 April 2026
Ahead of its Annual General Meeting ("AGM") which will take place at 9.00am today, Helical provides an update covering its trading activity for the period 1 April 2026 to 15 July 2026 ("the Period").
Commenting on the Company's activities, Matthew Bonning-Snook, Chief Executive, said:
"It has been a strong start to the financial year as we continue to build upon our recent letting success at The Bower, including today's announcement that we have let the 9,600 sq ft 12th Floor. This takes the total space let in the Period to c.32,000 sq ft, with re-gears achieved on a further c.50,000 sq ft.
"Our development pipeline looks increasingly well timed and continues to progress at pace towards the delivery of best-in-class buildings into a supply constrained market, with both 10 King William Street and Brettenham House completing this year. With our development at Delta Paddington now out of the ground and our Southwark PBSA on track to receive Gateway 2 approval this year, we have a clear pathway to generating meaningful and sustainable returns.
"Once approved at the General Meeting ("GM") later today, we will return c.£12m of the realised profits from the sale of 100 New Bridge Street to Shareholders, adding to our ongoing £5m share buyback programme and demonstrating our disciplined approach to capital allocation.
"We believe the severe undersupply of well-located, best-in-class offices will continue for a number of years. With our track record of navigating a challenging planning environment, working with a select group of top tier contractors and maintaining deep lender relationships which enable us to secure accretive financing, combined with an ability to access new sites through our flexible approach to partnerships, we are ideally placed to benefit from this dynamic."
Operational Highlights
· 100 New Bridge Street, EC4 - Having achieved practical completion of the 195,000 sq ft best‑in‑class office redevelopment, the sale to State Street Corporation for £333m (Helical share: £166.5m) completed on 20 May 2026. The sale remains one of the largest single lot size transactions to have occurred in London market in recent years.
· Brettenham House, WC2 - Works are on track to complete the comprehensive redevelopment of this 128,000 sq ft 1930s building in September 2026. We expect to accelerate marketing initiatives as the building approaches completion when its heritage features, views and terracing can be fully appreciated. We are encouraged with the level of early tenant interest and the progress of ongoing discussions.
· 10 King William Street, EC4 - This prime, 142,000 sq ft best‑in‑class City office development is due to reach practical completion in December 2026. The scheme will offer highly efficient and flexible 20,000 sq ft floorplates, alongside a strong focus on occupier wellbeing and three levels of terracing. We have ongoing discussions with a number of potential tenants for a variety of size requirements and are optimistic of announcing letting progress before the building completes.
· Southwark, SE1 - The 429-bed purpose‑built student accommodation component of the scheme has been forward funded to Places for London and the affordable residential component forward sold to Southwark Borough Council. As a result, the joint venture is now only taking delivery risk, with no exposure to occupational or market risk. The use of this equity-light structure should enable Helical to generate in excess of a 3.0x return on investment. Gateway 2 has been submitted for approval, with delivery targeted ahead of the 2029/30 academic year.
· Delta Paddington, W2 - With the main construction contract signed with Mace and £220m of debt finance in place, works are progressing well on site. Practical completion of this 240,000 sq ft scheme is targeted for Q3 2028. The scheme has achieved BREEAM Outstanding at design stage with an exceptional score of 97.4%, the second highest score achieved in the UK for a new build office, and is also targeting WELL Shell & Core Platinum, EPC A and a NABERS 5.5* rating.
· The Bower, EC1 - The significant letting progress made last year has continued, with us today announcing the 9,600 sq ft letting of the 12th floor of The Tower to Audio Network, a global music licensing and production company that creates, owns, curates and licenses music for use in media and commercial content.
This recent deal follows the letting of the 10,000 sq ft 3rd floor of The Tower in April, the 12,400 sq ft 7th floor of The Warehouse in June and the re-gearing of five floors totalling c.50,000 sq ft. These transactions add £2.4m of contracted rental income and are in line with March 2026 ERVs, extending The Bower's WAULT to expiry to 6.4 years and increasing occupancy to 96.6%.
Dividend and Capital Return
The final dividend for the year ended 31 March 2026 of 1.00p, if approved by Shareholders at the AGM later today, will be paid on 3 August 2026. This will take the total dividend for the year to 2.50p.
As previously announced on 22 May 2026, the Company proposes to return up to £17m to Shareholders through a combination of a capital return B Share Scheme (£12m) and a share buyback programme (£5m). This amount reflects over half of the £31m profit realised on the completion of the sale of 100 New Bridge Street.
The £5m share buyback programme commenced on 8 June 2026 and to date 1,109,980 shares have been acquired at a weighted average price of 189.71p.
The proposed return of approximately £12m of capital to Shareholders through the issue of a new class of redeemable B Shares, which the Company expects to redeem in cash for 9.72 pence per existing Ordinary Share, is subject to approval at a GM later today. This will be followed by a 100 for 105 share consolidation of the Company's ordinary share capital, again subject to approval at the GM, to maintain share price comparability.
For further information, please contact:
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Helical plc |
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Matthew Bonning-Snook (CEO) James Moss (CFO) |
Address: 22 Ganton Street, London, W1F 7FD Website: www.helical.co.uk Tel: 020 7629 0113 |
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FTI Consulting |
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Dido Laurimore Richard Gotla Andrew Davis |
Email: Schelical@fticonsulting.com Tel: 020 3727 1000 |
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