5th Nov 2019 12:12
(Alliance News) - Property firm Warehouse REIT PLC held its interim dividend Tuesday despite profit falling sharply on property revaluations, but overall assets and occupancy performance remained strong.
For the six months ended September 30, pretax profit narrowed three-quarters to GBP2.8 million from GBP11.0 million the year prior. This was despite revenue rising 27% to GBP13.6 million from GBP10.7 million the year before.
Profit performance was hurt by a sharp reversal in the impact of a revaluation of its investments, reflecting one-off costs associated with acquisition activity. During the period, Warehouse made acquisitions worth a total of GBP133.2 million.
In the most recent period, the fair value revaluation saw a GBP4.3 million loss booked. In contrast, the year prior revaluations represented a GBP4.4 million gain.
At the end of September, net asset value per share at the real estate investment trust fell 4.1% to 105.2 pence from 109.7p six months earlier. Occupancy fell to 91.5% from 92.0% six months prior.
"We have continued to successfully execute the strategy we set out at IPO, adding value to the portfolio through active asset management and successfully investing the proceeds of the April 2019 equity issue in line with our forecast timeframe," Chair Neil Kirton said.
Warehouse proposed a 3.0p per share as an interim dividend, unchanged on the year prior.
"These actions have further enhanced the tenant covenant portfolio and the duration and quality of our income stream, underpinning our ability to pay attractive dividends to shareholders", Kirton added.
Shares in London-based Warehouse were 2.5% lower at 106.24 pence in London on Tuesday.
By Ahren Lester; [email protected]
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