Rising rents help Warehouse REIT to bumper year
Neil Kirton, chair of Warehouse REIT, said that the "standout feature" of the year has been the "resilience" of industrial occupational markets,
Warehouse REIT, the real estate investment trust, reported an increase in profit in the 2024 financial year as it finalised the reshaping of its portfolio.
Operating profit for the year rose slightly to £35m compared to £32.2m last year.
The firm reported that like-for-like growth in contracted rents was five per cent higher than last year. Occupancy rates were 96.4 per cent, with around 99 per cent of rent for the 2024 financial year already collected.
Neil Kirton, chair of Warehouse REIT, said that the “standout feature” of the year has been the “resilience” of industrial occupational markets.
“This part of the market remains structurally under-supplied in terms of well-located, quality assets, supporting an increase in our valuation and enabling us to capture an uplift on previous rents of nearly 30 per cent,” he said.
The investment trust has also been looking to re-weight its portfolio over the year to favour multi-let warehouses.
Warehouse REIT said its disposal plan was “near completion” having made sales worth £53m in the 2024 finanical year, 15.6 per cent ahead of March 2023 book value.
Post year-end sales amounted to £57.5m with negotiations “well advanced” on the final sale at Radway Green in Crewe.
The company maintained its dividend for the year at 6.4p per share. At the end of the period the company reported a EPRA net tangible asset value per share of 124.4p, up 1.5 per cent.
The firm is also identifying opportunities to selectively make acquisitions of “higher yielding warehousing assets.” Today it announced the acquisition of Ventura Retail Park in Tamworth for £38.6m which Kirton said was “highly complementary to our business and our skill set”.
Kirton warned that commercial real estate is a sector that may continue to be challenged by higher interest rates but said the board was proactively managing the situation.
“We are successfully managing our way through that and the board are committed to making the decisions and taking the steps that are necessary to create a sound platform from which our operational strength can drive value for all our shareholders,” he said.
