Profits down but forecast positive at leading trust

CALEDONIAN Trust chairman and chief executive Douglas Lowe has said the company is ready to take advantage of a “stable” housing market in the Central Belt, after pre-tax profits tumbled 80 per cent to £105,000.

Profit per share fell to 89p from £4.79, and the net asset value (NAV) per share was 153p compared to 152p following the sale of one property and remaining assets increasing in value.

In a lengthy commentary to the property developer’s accounts, which quoted Shakespeare and the Greek poet Archilochus, Mr Lowe heavily criticised forecasters for their “fallibility” and subsequent impact on inflation targets, fiscal balance sheet and the fallout from the Brexit vote.

“Such forecasting has proved fallible, at times contributing to, if not causing, severe economic damage,” he said.

Mr Lowe added that: “The economic penalty for withdrawing from the EU will be measurable but manageable.”

On a second independence referendum, Mr Lowe said such talk “detracts from Scottish economic performance as it casts a shadow over investment in Scotland,” but, he added, “this threat to economic progress is diminishing”.

He said the “harsh reality” of current prospects for the North Sea was “sapping the SNP’s exceptional ardour”.

Mr Lowe said that after years of delaying developments the Edinburgh market was such that plans could progress. He said the company would continue to invest in projects that require long-term planning work, but on a reduced scale. In 2017, there would also be an emphasis on the completion and realisation of previously postponed development opportunities, while the company will also seek to develop major sites.