Office developer Helical has placed its dividend distribution under review during the coronavirus pandemic.
The group said it collected 84% of the £6.7m total rent due in the first quarter of 2020, with 9% more to be paid in instalments over the next three months. It also collected 90% of its service charge payments in the quarter.
Despite this relatively good collection rate, Helical said it was closely monitoring its forecast cash flow requirements and will consider whether a final dividend for the year to 31 March 2020 is appropriate, and if so, at what level.
For tenants in financial difficulty, Helical has agreed to a rent concession with the March quarter rent being paid monthly rather than quarterly. For food & beverage occupiers (which account for 1.4% of total passing rents), it has agreed to defer payment of rent to the next quarter day.
Helical’s total passing rent for the quarter of £6.7m compares to its quarterly finance cost payments on the investment facilities of £2.6m.
Its loan to value (LTV) ratio was 35%, as at 30 September 2019, giving the group substantial headroom on both its interest coverage ratio and LTV covenants.
It has £64m of cash deposits available to deploy without restrictions with a further £65m of cash available by drawing down on its £400m revolving credit facility (RCF).
Of Helical’s two investment loan facilities, with current total drawdowns of £311m, it has no maturities for at least 21 months and an average maturity of 4.4 years, which increases to 5.9 years on exercise of options to extend the £400m RCF.
The group had recently completed two development sites in London – the Kaleidoscope, which has 88,500 sq ft of space available to let and the last remaining residential block at its Barts Square scheme, which was completed on 20 March 2020. It has halted development at 33 Charterhouse Street.
Helical said it expects earnings for the year to be relatively unaffected by the current crisis but it would provide a fuller update alongside its annual results, which are expected to be published in May 2020.
HLCL : Helical to review final dividend payment