St Modwen Properties posts H1 loss

LONDON (Reuters) - Property company St Modwen Properties (SMP.L) reported a first-half loss on Monday and said while market conditions remained uncertain it was confident about its longer-term prospects.

The regeneration specialist said it had made a pretax loss of 20 million pounds, after a net revaluation writedown of 31.8 million, in the six months to May 31, against a profit of 65.1 million in the comparable period last year.

Net asset value per share -- a key performance gauge for property companies -- fell by 4 percent to 371 pence, from 387p as of November 30, 2007.

"Future market conditions remain uncertain, and macro-economic signals continue to deteriorate. However, our confidence in the longer term remains undiminished," Chairman Anthony Glossop said in the results statement.

The group, which said it was reporting on the most difficult period for the property industry since 1990, proposed keeping the interim dividend unchanged at 3.9 pence per share.

St Modwen said the pace and severity of the decline in the residential market was not expected by it or the market and "has yet to find a stable level".

As a result, the company has decided not to try and sell any of its residential land until the market has stabilised.

Shares in St Modwen closed at 315.50 pence on Friday, to value the company at around 381 million pounds.

(Reporting by Mike Elliott, editing by Will Waterman)