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Real estate investor Wynnstay Properties upped its dividend, even as its first-half profit was hit by unit vacancies and Covid-19 concessions.
Pre-tax profit for the six months through September halved to £0.54 million, as property income fell 11% to £1.06 million.
Wynnstay Properties declared an interim dividend of 8p per share, up 6.7% year-on-year.
The previous year's income had included rent from the two units at Chessington, which became vacant in June 2019.
The lower income also reflected support given to a number of tenants through concessionary arrangements to assist them during the pandemic.
Chairman Philip Collins said there was now no significant rent outstanding for the second quarter.
For the third quarter, commencing 29 September, the company had collected 98% of the quarterly and monthly rents due, with the main outstanding items being monthly payments now due on 1 December.
'While it is too soon to form a view on the overall dividend for this year, as I said in my statement in July we are keenly aware how important investment income is to many shareholders and we are determined to return to our progressive dividend policy as soon as practicable,' Collins said.
'While we are encouraged by Wynnstay's performance in the first half of the year future increases will, of course, depend on our financial results for the year as a whole and our assessment of future prospects in the light of the challenging business and economic conditions.'
At 9:46am: (LON:WSP) Wynnstay Properties PLC share price was 0p at 575p