PROPERTY developer Terrace Hill’s annual revenues have almost doubled and it says its foodstore business is maturing rapidly.

The London-based company, which has a large office in Stockton and a strong presence in the North East, also announced the disposal of its residential portfolio. Terrace Hill reported revenues of £67.8m in the year to the end of September, compared with £30.7m in 2010.

But it also revealed a £10.2m pre-tax loss, after making a £17.9m profit a year earlier. This was mainly down to a £4.1m loss because of property re-valuations.

Terrace Hill chairman Robert Adair said: “In the last year there have been some very positive aspects to our business, most particularly the strong growth in our foodstore development programme and reduction in debt.

“We believe that the greatest potential for the business lies in focusing on our key strengths of commercial property development and trading and, as we execute this strategy, I remain confident we will perform well over the medium term and add value to the business for our shareholders.”

The company is currently disposing of its residential portfolio and expects the process to take between a year and 18 months.

Adair said: “It has become clear that the longer-term investment horizon of holding and managing residential investment property is not well suited to a property development and trading business like ours and that our capital can generate far higher returns through carefully selected commercial developments, in particular within the foodstore sector.

“We have therefore decided to sell the residential investment assets owned directly by us and through our associate Terrace Hill Residential plc, a process which we expect to complete over the next 12-18 months.”

In the North East, the firm is currently working on foodstore developments in Sunderland, Skelton in East Cleveland, Sedgefield and Middlehaven in Middlesbrough.