MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

FIH Group, Sale and Leaseback of UK Warehousing facilities as part of financing structure

The FIC West Store showroom in Stanley

FIH Group plc, with businesses in the Falkland Islands and UK, has announced that as part of a review of the Group's financing structure, it has exchanged contracts for the sale and leaseback of the 100,000 sq ft warehousing facilities in Leyton used by Momart, its art handling and storage business, with HEPP Mid Box Limited, a subsidiary of Hines, the global real estate manager, for a cash consideration of £22.65 million.

As part of the transaction, Momart will enter into a ten year lease of the Leyton property at an initial rent of circa £1.3 million per annum, with a review after five years. The lease includes a tenant only break option after five years as well as a tenant only option to renew the lease for a further ten years, again with a tenant only break option after five years.

£0.8m of the consideration will be deferred and will be payable once Momart has made rental payments in compliance with the lease agreement for a period of two years.

The net book value of the Leyton property at 31 July 2025 was £18.26 million and the profit on sale before transaction costs and corporation tax is anticipated to be approximately £4.4 million.

Contract completion is expected by this week. After repayment of the mortgage secured on the property of circa £10.9 million, the sale is expected to return approximately £11.8 million to the Company, before transaction fees and corporation tax on the profit on disposal.

Subject to the successful completion of the contract, a special dividend of 70 pence per share will be proposed at the forthcoming Annual General Meeting.

Stuart Munro Chief Executive, FIH group plc, said: “This is a positive transaction for the Group, achieving a 24% increase on the net book value of the property.”

Last July, CEO Stuart Munro admitted “It has been a challenging year for the Group, particularly in FIC, where the challenges in the construction division reported at the half year continued to adversely impact results in the second half, albeit to a lesser extent. Having secured both construction and retail management resource to address the issues within those business areas, the newly appointed Managing Director will provide additional support to those divisions, as well drive a program of improvement across all areas of the business. The market remains difficult for Momart, but is being addressed by a continued focus on client relationships, process efficiency and cost management. At Portsmouth Harbour Ferry, passenger numbers were slightly reduced, but continue to be mitigated by a combination of fare pricing, cost management and the maximization of secondary revenues. Whilst there are significant challenges ahead, the Group now has the management teams in place to address them in all businesses.”