5th May 2016 06:51
LONDON (Alliance News) - Derwent London PLC on Thursday said it has seen strong letting activity in the first quarter, and noted it had seen "little evidence of any slowdown" in occupier demand for its middle market rental products in the run up to the UK vote on European Union membership in June.
The FTSE 250-listed property company said it has let or pre-let 185,000 square feet of space in the year to date, securing GBP13.2 million per annum of rental income. Derwent said this included the pre-letting of 29,500 square feet to credit card service company Capital One Financial Corp at White Collar Factory in central London.
Lettings in the first quarter were on average 6.1% ahead of the estimated market rental value in December 2015, Derwent said.
Derwent added that its 1.0 million square feet development programme was under construction, with 400,000 square feet due for completion by the second half of 2017, 57% of which is already pre-let.
The property company said its loan-to-value ratio was 19.0% at March 31, with cash and undrawn facilities of GBP310.0 million.
"We are encouraged by the level of interest we are seeing for our space, and the strong progress made so far this year across the business. Although uncertainty ahead of the forthcoming June referendum appears to have lowered investment activity, Derwent London continues to see little evidence of any slowdown in occupier demand for its middle market rental product," said Chief Executive John Burns.
By Hannah Boland; [email protected]; @Hannaheboland
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