LMP : LMP announces interims and a couple of deals
LondonMetric Property has published its interim results for the period that ended on 30 September 2014 and has also announced a couple of property transactions
Over the period the fund’s EPRA net asset value rose by 6.4% to 128.8p on a 5.7% uplift in the capital value of their property portfolio. The dividend was maintained at 3.5p. Earnings per share were up 79% to 3.4p compared to the same period last year. The total return on the portfolio for the period was 8.8%. Portfolio occupancy was 99.7% at the end of September and just 4.1% of the portfolio is let on leases with less than five years left to run.
They had £55m of cash at the period end and expect that to rise to £100m with the sale of Carter Lane.
Today they announced the sale of a retail park in Milton Keynes for £21.8m and the acquisition of a site where they intend to construct distribution facility in Bedford. Cairngorm Retail Park (pictured) in Milton Keynes was sold to Royal London Asset Management for £21.8m, reflecting a net initial yield of 6.10%. LondonMetric bought the 57,400 sq ft Park as part of the “Saturn” Portfolio of six regional retail parks which it acquired during a period of market illiquidity in January 2013. The Park is let to DFS, Oak Furnitureland, ScS, Furniture Village and Carpetright off an average rent of £24.50 psf. In Bedford, they are buying a 37 acre site from Bedford Borough Council which is currently zoned for distribution. The site is capable of accommodating up to 750,000 sqft of distribution space. The purchase is conditional on LondonMetric acquiring the necessary planning consents. They say the site is situated on the A421, close to junction 13 of the M1 motorway, in a well-established retail distribution location, with nearby occupiers including Sainsbury’s, Asda and Argos. LondonMetric intends to submit a planning application for the development in Q3 2015, with the aim of obtaining a consent in late 2015 and an estimated completion in 2017.