Joint venture set to add £5m to property group’s profits

INVESTORS in property and industrial supply group Hargreaves Services have been told its German joint venture expects to contribute an extra £5m to overall profits.

In a trading update the County Durham firm said rising commodity prices – including pig iron and zinc – were helping the Duisburg-based joint venture Hargreaves Raw Materials Services GmbH (HRMS) and its subsidiary, DK Recycling und Roheisen GmbH.

Bosses at the joint venture said they were confident of visibility across the remainder of the financial year and that HRMS would boost the overall group’s performance. Hargreaves also expects some benefit to extend to the first quarter of the year ending May 31, 2023, with an estimated increase of £1.5m profit after tax. The group said the remainder of its businesses continue to trade in line with expectations and it remained difficult to predict how long favourable conditions to the German business would last.

Roger McDowell, the chairman of Hargreaves, said: “Clearly current market conditions are extremely favourable and the board is impressed with the way in which the HRMS team is successfully navigating the opportunities that the market is presenting.”