19th Apr 2016 08:38
LONDON (Alliance News) - Standard Life Investments Property Income Trust Ltd on Tuesday said it grew by more than 70% in 2015, driven by portfolio capital growth, issuing shares in a way that boosted net asset value, and asset management.
In a statement, the company, which was reporting earnings for its first full-year as a real estate investment trust, said its net assets grew to GBP312.8 million from GBP184.4 million in 2015.
Its NAV total return and share price total return each amounted to 15.5% in 2015, versus the FTSE REIT Index total return of 10.6% and FTSE All Share Index of 1.0%.
The company issued GBP110 million of shares in the year, investing the proceeds in property.
In the absence of unforeseen circumstances, the company intends to its annual dividend in 2016 by 2.5% to 4.76 pence, equating to a yield of 5.5% based on its March-end share price.
The company paid dividends totalling 4.644p related to 2015.
Standard Life Investments Property Income Trust, which acquired GBP217 million of assets in 2015, including 22 assets for GBP165 million in December, said the latest acquisition increased the scale and diversity of its investments.
The new portfolio will give rise to "asset management opportunities which will be crucial in an environment where yield compression is limited," Chairman Richard Barfield said in a statement.
"Importantly, the new portfolio should also boost income generation at a time when income is becoming the main driver of performance," Barfield said.
In addition, the company expects to benefit as it is in advanced talks to refinance all its existing loan
facilities on "favourable" terms and expects to make a further announcement shortly.
"Combined with the upcoming refinancing of the company's debt facilities, which should generate significant interest savings, your company is in a strong position for the future," Barfield said.
Shares in Standard Life Investments Property Income Trust were up 0.1% at 86.55p on Tuesday.
By Samuel Agini; [email protected]; @samuelagini
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