12th Sep 2018 12:45
LONDON (Alliance News) - F&C Commercial Property Trust Ltd on Wednesday said it underperformed against its benchmark, despite a rise in net asset value per share in the first half of 2018.
In addition, the company said it appointed John Wythe as an independent non-executive director.
Wythe brings considerable experience of the property market, F&C Commercial said, following a career with M&G Real Estate. He is currently chairman of the trustees of Portman Estate Ltd.
NAV per share grew in the six months to the end of June to 143.2 pence from 141.2p reported at the end of 2017.
NAV total return for the period was 3.6%, slightly behind the company's benchmark, MSCI Investment Property Databank, which returned 3.7%.
Share price stood at 150.6p at the end of the period, representing 5.2% premium to NAV. The stock was trading flat on Wednesday at 146.00p per share.
The company declared an interim dividend of 3.0p per share, unchanged year-on-year.
F&C Commercial portfolio value grew slightly in the first-half of 2018 to GBP1.45 billion from GBP1.42 billion reported at the end of December last year.
The company said its performance was hit by Industrial & Logistics portfolio, which underperformed the benchmark by 4.4 percentage points. The result reflects he company's exposure to the sector through mid to large size logistics companies and not to multi-let industrial estates which experienced the most marked re-rating of pricing.
Meanwhile, F&C Commercial's Offices portfolio outperformed the benchmark, benefiting from "significant" asset management progress in letting the vacant building on Edinburgh Park to Diageo.
Retail portfolio also outperformed the benchmark due to its' lack of exposure to shopping centres, the company said. F&C Commercial that despite a challenging environment, its retail assets remain popular and the company is already in a number of discussions to refurbish, reconfigure and re-let the units where appropriate.
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F&C Commercial Property Trust