15th Jun 2023 14:34
(Alliance News) - Custodian Property Income REIT PLC on Thursday said its net asset value declined in its recently-ended financial year, amid a difficult economic climate, though it hailed the resilience and defensiveness of its investment strategy.
The Leicester, England-based real estate investment trust said its NAV at March 31 was 99.3 pence per share, down by 17% from 119.7p on the same date a year prior. Its EPRA earnings for the year ended March 31 fell to 5.6p per share from 5.9p due to increases in interest rates.
Custodian Property's stock was down 0.6% at 90.10p on Thursday afternoon in London.
Custodian Property said its NAV total return for financial 2023 was negative 12.5%, swinging from positive 28.4% the previous year.
The company also swung to a pretax loss of GBP65.8 million, from a GBP122.3 million profit in financial 2022.
Custodian Property said it was able to maintain stable quarterly dividends during the second half-year, bringing the financial 2023 total dividends to 5.5p per share and up by 4.8% from 5.25p the previous year.
"Our strategy...demonstrated its relative resilience and defensive qualities this year as the market corrected to the new interest rate environment," Chair David Hunter commented. "Since the year end we are beginning to see some optimism returning to real estate markets following six months of economic turbulence."
Going forward, Custodian Property said there was "a strong case" for consolidation among subscale listed REITs and that it therefore plans to seek mergers and corporate acquisitions to purchase complimentary portfolios.
The company said it was operating in "an inflationary environment" and that it therefore expects to see continued rental growth over the next 12 months. It also anticipates additional rental growth if it manages to provide space that meets modern environmental standards. Custodian Property concluded by highlighting its "strong income yielding portfolio", which currently is valued at GBP613.6 million.
By Emma Curzon, Alliance News reporter
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