St Modwen, the regeneration-focused property developer, hopes to return to profit next year after “catastrophic” writedowns of its property assets pushed it to a near-£100m pre-tax loss in the six months to June.

Bill Oliver, chief executive, said the group was now at its “lowest ebb” following a £102m ($163m) cash call announced in May. But it could see the value of its land holdings start ticking up again by this time next year, he said, as higher valuations from newly-granted planning permissions began to outstrip writedowns.