Duke of Westminster’s property firm pays £50m dividend despite profits drop
The Duke of Westminster’s property company, which owns swathes of London’s exclusive Mayfair and Belgravia districts, has paid out a £50m dividend despite falling profits.
The boss of Grosvenor, the duke’s £11.5bn property empire, warned of a period of stagflation and that UK interest rates and inflation could stay high for longer than expected, resulting in “more pain” for the commercial property market.
Mark Preston, the chief executive, predicted a “shakeout” in real estate, as the value of its offices and other commercial assets in the UK dropped by 3.7% year on year amid a downturn in the market, after 2.5% growth in 2021.
Even so, it paid a £49.9m dividend to the duke’s family and its trusts, after a £48.7m dividend in 2021. Grosvenor also owns rural estates and one of the largest farms in the UK, as well as investments in food and agritech firms.
The company is owned by the duke, Hugh Grosvenor, 32, one of Britain’s richest men and godfather to Prince George. The 32-year-old has just become engaged to Olivia Henson, who works as an account manager for a food company in London.
Preston said big challenges included the move to hybrid working which had reduced demand for office space, along with rising interest rates and the withdrawal of debt financing availability, particularly in the US, which will hit overindebted businesses hard.
“Those [buildings] that are awkward space, less well located and in particular less up to scratch in terms of their environmental credentials are really struggling,” he said.
“Fortunately, we don’t have very many of those. You hear stories of 30% to 40% occupancy in these sorts of buildings and that’s not just a UK story, it’s an American story as well. Those are properties where the
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