5th Mar 2020 09:20
(Alliance News) - CLS Holdings PLC on Thursday raised its annual dividend amid a rise in profit on the sale of certain financial investments, and a rise in net rental income.
The Western Europe-focused property investor reported a pretax profit of GBP159.0 million for 2019, a 9.7% increase from GBP144.9 million in 2018.
The profit rise was mainly due to a gain of GBP40.4 million, on the sale of other financial investments, namely the group's bond portfolio and its stake in Swedish logistics property firm Catena AB.
Net rental income meanwhile, grew by 3.1% to GBP110.6 million from GBP107.3 million, driven by higher rental values and new acquisitions in the UK, France and Germany.
CLS posted an EPRA net asset value of 329.2 pence per share at the end of 2019, up 6.3% from 309.8p at the end of 2018. Basic net asset value per share was 7.1% higher at 295.1p as at December 31 from 275.5p a year before.
The group's property portfolio was valued at GBP1.97 billion, from GBP1.77 billion a year prior, as CLS's French properties increased by 3.8% in value. Those in Germany by 8.4%, but in the UK they declined by 0.8%.
CLS's contracted rent roll dipped slightly to GBP109.6 million from GBP109.6 million, and its vacancy rate was 4.0% compared to 3.8% the prior year.
During the year, CLS disposed of properties valued at GBP187.2 million, and made GBP257.2 million in new acquisitions.
The group declared a final dividend of 5.05 pence per share, bringing the total payout to 7.4p, up 7.2% from 6.9p the year before.
"Our strategy remains to be a long-term investor in multi-let, non-prime offices in the UK, Germany and France. Our property portfolio is now well positioned in the larger cities to capture future rental growth, utilising our in-house management and focus on sustainability. We started 2020 with a well-capitalised balance sheet which allows us to continue to capture attractive acquisition opportunities and deliver long-term, responsible growth for our stakeholders," said Chief Executive Officer Fredrik Widlund.
Shares in CLS Holdings were down 0.2% at 259.00 pence on Thursday in London.
By Dayo Laniyan; [email protected]
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