Press Releases

Sale of London property generating £4.7M Profit

Purchase of New London Property

1st March 2004

Manganese Bronze Holdings Plc, the leading manufacturer of the distinctive London black taxi and operator of Zingo, the mobile phone taxi hailing service, today announces the sale of its Holloway Road property, along with the purchase of a property in Brewery Road, London.

The Holloway Road, London, property has been sold to English Partnerships for a total consideration of £7.9m. It has a book value of £2.9m and will generate a profit after costs of £4.7m. The property covers a total area of just under one acre, of which 30,000 sq. ft. is covered. It contains 16 service bay areas and parking spaces for 100 vehicles.

The site is currently occupied by Manganese Bronze subsidiary LTI Limited trading as Mann & Overton, which retails and provides high quality support, repairs and servicing for black taxis. Mann & Overton will remain at Holloway Road until 2006 and pay a yearly rent of £150,000 to English Partnerships until this date.

Simultaneously, Manganese Bronze has purchased the leasehold of a property at Brewery Road, near to Kings Cross, London from British Telecommunications PLC for a total consideration of £4.6m. The property covers a total area of 60,000 sq. ft. and contains 34 service bays and parking for 350 vehicles. The lease has 67 years to run with the freehold owned by the Corporation of London.

The site is currently occupied by Pendragon plc, which operates a Land Rover and Range Rover dealership on the site, under a lease which expires in May 2006. The current yearly rental is a minimum of £175,000 with a rent review outstanding.

Manganese Bronze was advised on both transactions by Anthony Green & Spencer.

Ian Pickering, Chief Executive of Manganese Bronze, commenting on the transactions said:

“I am very pleased we have obtained a good price for the Holloway Road property and, moreover, such an ideal location for Mann and Overton to relocate to. Specialist locations of this size are rare in London and this site will benefit our customers by being nearer to the centre of the taxi trade and enabling us to better service their needs through an expanded operation.

“These transactions demonstrate our continuing ability to deliver value to all shareholders.”

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