11th Nov 2022 11:19
(Alliance News) - Urban Logistics REIT PLC on Friday reported a fall in net asset value over six months, albeit outperforming its NAV from a year ago.
The UK logistics real estate investor's NAV at September 30 fell 2.4% to 184.54 pence per share from 189.12p at March 31. Compared to September 30, 2021, NAV rose 12% from 164.23p per share.
Urban declared an unchanged interim dividend of 3.25p per share.
In the six months to September 30, pretax profit plummeted to GBP2.4 million from GBP50.3 million a year ago, which Urban blamed on "market driven yield erosion".
The company reported a loss on changes in fair value of investment property of GBP22.2 million, swung from a gain of GBP40.6 million a year ago. Administrative expenses widened by 75% to GBP5.0 million from GBP2.9 million.
Meanwhile, revenue climbed 59% to GBP26.5 million from GBP16.7 million.
Looking ahead, Chair Nigel Rich said: "We remain confident that our portfolio of properties and the strength of our balance sheet will enable us to withstand the economic headwinds. With our loan to value at 22% we have the financial resources to purchase further assets as and when our manager sees value in the opportunities."
The firm's manager, PCP2 Ltd, added: "To weather the current macroeconomic storm commercial property owners need tenants who can continue to pay the rent, an ability to capture inflationary uplift through active asset management, low gearing and a low and secure cost of debt. At Urban Logistics we believe our base of larger tenants selling essential goods, our team's decades of experience in asset management, and our 97% hedged debt with no refinancings required until 2025 mean we face the future in the best possible shape."
Urban Logistics shares rose 2.6% to 153.97 pence each in London on Friday morning.
By Tom Budszus; [email protected]
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