German business park owner Sirius Real Estate has provided a covid-19 update in which it said it had collected 75% of rent for the month of April.
The figure, as at 9 April 2020, represented around 90% of the normal working pattern, the company said.
A small number of its tenants are facing covid-19 related financial difficulties, it said, and have requested deferral of rental and service charge payments. Sirius said it would address these requests on a case by case basis. The group said it expects some rent payments for the next few months will be deferred.
Letting enquiries have fallen since the outbreak, it said, but the group had signed 13,000 sqm of new lettings since 1 March 2020, generating €1.2m of annual rent.
Sirius’s portfolio is made up of more than 5,000 tenants, with the top 50 tenants make up 44% of the rent roll and include multi-national companies. The tenant profile includes 7% being government agencies, while 35% of the portfolio is storage space, where it has reported an increase in enquiries since the start of the crisis.
It said a large portion of its rent roll comes from Germany’s Mittelstand (SMEs) that operate across a wide range of industries and are being supported by the German government’s funding package.
As at 31 March 2020, the company’s balance sheet was supported by total cash balances in excess of €121.0m, €96.6m of which is unrestricted. In addition, the company has €33.1m of undrawn debt facilities.
The group also reported a trading update for the year to 31 March 2020 in which it increased its annual rent roll to €90.3m from €87.8m in the previous year. It signed 162,607 sqm of new lettings at an average rent of €6.55 per sqm.
Occupancy increased to 87% from 85% and average rent increased to more than €6.07 per sqm from €5.83 per sqm.
SRE : Sirius Real Estate collects 75% of rent for April