Panther Securities announces interim dividend, shares rise

Panther Securities PLC on Tuesday reported a fall in first-half profit due to accounting movements and declared an interim dividend.

Shares in the Hertfordshire, England-based property investor jumped 6.9% to 310.00 pence on Tuesday afternoon in London.

The company said pretax profit fell 35% in the first six months of 2026 to £3.3 million from £5.1 million a year earlier.

Revenue edged up 1.4% to £7.4 million from £7.3 million.

Cost of sales was largely unchanged at £2.9 million, compared with £2.8 million a year earlier.

Chair Andrew Perloff said Panther Securities had recorded a £3.9 million revaluation gain on investment properties in the first half of 2025, which was not repeated in the first half of 2026.

Perloff added: "During the 2026 interim period we also received a £2.1 million cash premium following the restructuring of one of our interest rate swaps, whilst the fair value of our derivative financial assets reduced by £1.0 million during the period (following the premium we received)."

Panther Securities declared an interim dividend of 6 pence per share to be paid on October 29. The ex-dividend date is October 8.

Net asset value per share at June 30 was 682 pence per share, down 0.4% from 685 pence per share a year before.

Rents receivable rose to £7.4 million from £7.3 million a year earlier.

The company said it was pleased that rental income had increased slightly despite efforts to dispose of vacant properties or those generating little or no income.

"This has allowed us to reduce debt without materially reducing the group’s underlying trading contribution, which I believe is a sensible balance in the present market," Perloff said.

Panther Securities said it had reduced bad debt expense to £225,000 from £453,000 a year earlier.

Looking forward, the company said: "The economic and political background remains uncertain and the costs and regulatory burdens faced by many businesses, including a large number of our tenants, continue to increase. Nevertheless, our broad spread of tenants, relatively low gearing, strong liquidity and substantial unutilised banking facilities give us considerable resilience."

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