Insider Media Limited

Birmingham regeneration specialist St Modwen said it is “well positioned” to take advantage of increased activity in the residential land sector. In an interim statement, the company said it planned to start work on another three sites as part of its joint venture with Persimmon before the end of 2011.

St Modwen said more than 80 per cent of its residential portfolio was currently either secured with planning permission or allocated within local plans.

The company added it was making “tangible” progress in its joint venture with housebuilder Persimmon. Earlier this month, the pair secured detailed planning permission for 314 homes at the former Goodyear site in Wolverhampton with an expected end value of £50m.

Take-up from retail occupiers has also been strong in the past few weeks, said the company, including confirmation in the period of the pre-sale of an 85,000 sq ft foodstore to Tesco as part of St Modwen’s town centre redevelopment in Hednesford, Cannock.

Bill Oliver, chief executive of St Modwen, said: “Following a strong set of annual results announced in February, the outlook for St Modwen remains positive, both in terms of future profitability and net asset value growth.

“We continue to build on the excellent momentum in our income-enhancing asset management programme while achieving sustained progress at our development projects across the UK. This, coupled with our strong forward position of pre-lets and pre-sales, gives us confidence in our future growth.”