Blackrock International Land, the property company spun off from Fyffes last May, plans to invest €200 million in developing its property business over the next two years.
The company, which released its first set of interim results yesterday, said it aimed to invest €100 million over the next year followed by another €100 million within the following 12 months.
"The company's strategic objective is to build a substantial, internationally recognised property business with a clear focus on development opportunities, supported by a strong investment portfolio," Blackrock said.
It is particularly interested in property in Ireland, Scotland, northeast England and the greater London area. It also sees opportunities in continental Europe and said "several prospects in a number of major cities are under active consideration".
The company, which also announced the appointment of Fyffes' Philip Halpenny as its new finance director, reported net rental income of €704,000 for the seven-week period between the time it started operating independently on May 11th and June 30th. In that period it also spent €13.5 million on property acquisitions, including the purchase of warehouse and office accommodation at Willsborough Industrial Estate in Dublin. Blackrock also bought 31 acres of land at Broxburn, near Edinburgh airport, in July. Last month, it acquired offices in Milton Keynes in England.
The company has also been selected, along with two joint venture partners, by BBC Scotland as the preferred purchasers to develop a 5.3-acre site in Glasgow's west end.
The interim results show that Blackrock incurred administration expenses of €301,000, including a once-off sum of €148,000, in relation to setting up and listing the company. This left it with an operating loss of €205,000 in the period and a pretax loss of €143,000.
Blackrock, which is 40 per cent owned by Fyffes, had net cash of €11.6 million at the end of June, down from €20 million following its flotation.
Meanwhile, Mr Halpenny will be replaced by Seamus Keenan as Fyffes' company secretary.
:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/VR3765MFOBH2NMV2QNICYDF67M.png)