Quintain back in black

Wembley and Greenwich developer Quintain moved back into the black today, despite an expensive blow from the collapse of stricken care homes operator Southern Cross.

Quintain turned a pre-tax profit of £3.7 million for the six months to September after big write-downs on its property portfolio drove a £58.8 million loss a year earlier.

The recovery would have been even stronger if not for the wobbles of the Quercus Healthcare Fund, in which Quintain has an 11.2% stake.

Quintain's share of the income from the fund - which owns 262 care homes - slid from £3.5 million to £2.7 million during the period, in part driven by Southern Cross and other failures in a sector which is struggling with drastic budget cuts.

Quintain said eight Southern Cross homes were placed with other operators, but its income suffered in the hiatus and some 5.4% by value of Quercus' £812 million in assets is now in administration.

Fund management director David Gavaghan said: "We have seen a reduction of income but the situation is now stabilising."

At Wembley, Quintain has secured GAP and Nike as anchor tenants for its London Designer Outlet, while at Greenwich, the firm is pressing ahead with the building of 1300 homes at Peninsula Quay.

Chief executive Adrian Wyatt said the economic backdrop was "unlikely" to improve in the second half, although Quintain's exposure to a more resilient London property scene would help.

"We can continue to make money in a very difficult market," he said.

The company's net asset value per share rose 4% to 116p.