2nd Jun 2015 06:46
LONDON (Alliance News) - LondonMetric Property PLC on Tuesday said it will pay a special dividend for its 2015 financial year as the valuation of its portfolio rose over the course of the year and its profit jumped on the back of higher rental income.
FTSE 250-listed LondonMetric said its will pay a final dividend of 3.5 pence per share, leaving its total dividend for the year flat at 7 pence, but said it also will pay a 2 pence per share special dividend due to the exceptional gains the company made on the redevelopment and sale of the One Carter Lane property, which it sold for GBP138.8 million.
The group's reported profit for the year to the end of March was GBP159.5 million, up 27% from the GBP125.3 million reported a year earlier, as its EPRA earnings rose by 55% and its EPRA earnings per share increased by 57%. The company's net asset value per share rose by 15% over the year to GBP139.4 pence from 120.8 pence.
LondonMetric said its revaluation surplus for the year was GBP118.4 million, up from GBP95.9 million a year earlier, with its total portfolio valued at GBP1.4 billion, a 14.8% rise year-on-year. The company acquired twenty assets totalling GBP308.9 million over the year and sold GBP288.7 million worth of assets.
Gross rental income rose to GBP74 million, including joint ventures, in the year, a 20% rise, while its like-for-like income growth hit 2.9%. Its rental income for the year was 12% higher than previous passing rents on its portfolio and 6.6% higher than the estimated rental value of its properties.
"The strong performance over the past year is the result of our ability to align the business to the winning segments within retail, specifically distribution and convenience shopping," said Chairman Patrick Vaughan.
"Our portfolio continues to grow, and we have taken advantage of a strong property market to sell some institutional assets recently at very attractive prices which, whilst delivering strong total returns, has tempered our earnings growth in the short term. Having firmly underwritten our dividend, the quality of our portfolio ensures that our dividend policy will be progressive," Vaughan added.
In a separate statement on Tuesday, LondonMetric also said it has struck a GBP26 million deal to buy five Marks & Spencer Simply Food stores to add to its convenience food portfolio. The properties - located across England, including the Isle of Wight and Liverpool - produce and overall rental income of GBP1.5 million per year and the average yield on the properties acquired is 6.3%, LondonMetric added.
By Sam Unsted; [email protected]; @SamUAtAlliance
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