2nd Jun 2020 11:10
(Alliance News) - Warehouse REIT PLC on Tuesday reported a drop in profit on lower gains on the value and disposal of investment properties, despite growth in revenue on higher rental income.
For the year to the end of March, the warehouse-focused property investor's pretax profit was GBP20.7 million, down 9.2% from GBP22.8 million the year before.
This was due to lower gain from the fair value of investment properties at GBP5.1 million from GBP11.2 million, as well as the disposal of investment properties at GBP934,000, compared to GBP3.5 million.
Revenue for the year however grew by 37% to GBP30.1 million from GBP22.0 million the prior year, mainly on a sharp rise in rental income to GBP28.5 million from GBP20.7 million.
Net asset value as at March 31 was 109.5 pence per share, down slightly from 109.7p the same date the year before. Warehouse REIT's property portfolio had a value of GBP450.5 million, a 47% increase year-on-year from GBP307.4 million.
The trust declared a dividend of 6.0 pence per share, in line with the prior year.
Looking ahead, Warehouse REIT said it has made good progress with the collection of contracted rents for March, with 94% of contracted rent collected as at May 27.
The business itself is resilient and "well placed" to navigate the short-term market disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
"The group continued to perform well during the period and made further strategic progress. We added high-quality assets to the portfolio and extracted value from the existing assets through active asset management. We are confident that we have built a resilient business, with around 560 tenants across numerous industry sectors and a portfolio of assets that are attractive to a wide range of potential occupiers. The board is therefore confident that we are well placed to navigate the short-term disruption caused by Covid-19 and that we are in a strong position to resume our growth," said Chair Neil Kirton.
Shares in Warehouse REIT were up 1.3% at 112.42 pence on Tuesday in London.
By Dayo Laniyan; [email protected]
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