NRR : Good progress at New River Retail
New River Retail’s EPRA net asset value rose by 14% over the six months to the end of September 2014. Earnings per share rose from 6.5p to 6.8p and they upped the dividend to 8.5p from 6p (they have also started paying quarterly dividends). Occupancy across the portfolio was stable at 95%.
They expanded the portfolio significantly using the proceeds of the £85m they raised earlier in the year and dipping into their borrowing facility (pushing the loan to value ratio up to 38% from 30% at the equivalent stage in 2013). The £174m of property that they bought was acquired on an average yield of 8.2%. This included the £140m shopping centre portfolio they bought in April.
They say progress is good with the portfolio of pubs that they bought from Marstons and are converting into convenience stores for Co-operative Group. They have c1m sq ft of property in their development pipeline and 20 planning applications being considered.