Atlantic Leaf Property, a real estate company listed on Mauritius Stock Exchange, announced that during the first semester of the 2018/2019 fiscal year ending in late August, it realized a net profit of £7.9 million (about $9.18 million).

This performance is the result of a slight growth in rental revenues which boosted the turnover to £13.4 million. The company explains however that its performances during the period under review have been negatively affected by the tough business environment in the UK.  

"The retail sector has shown some weakness (with yields continuing to dwindle) and is being impacted by insolvencies and company voluntary arrangements. Atlantic Leaf has been affected by retail weakness in respect to our Haydock asset, formerly let to Palmer & Harvey, and more recently our Brecon asset, let to Homebase. Haydock remains vacant despite a concerted marketing effort and this loss of income continues to have a negative impact on our earnings", the company wrote in a result presentation.

Despite this difficult environment, Atlantic Leaf was able to reach an agreement with its creditors, HSBC and Santander notably, to restructure its debt so as to set an average of 4 years for its binding commitments. This will help it revise its strategy in case its revenues drop further till the end of February 2019.

Idriss Linge