LondonMetric has reported a dip in net asset value (NAV) following the £455m acquisition of A&J Mucklow last year.
The group, which owns a portfolio of logistics assets, said EPRA NAV at 31 March 2020 was 171.7p per share (March 2019: 174.9p).
The fall was mainly due to the Mucklow acquisition, which accounted for 2.5p. The rest of the fall was due to a 0.5% drop in the value of its portfolio, on a like-for-like basis.
The portfolio was valued at £2.35bn (March 2019: £1.85bn). The company posted a total property return of 5.1%, outperforming the IPD All Property index by 560bps.
Net rental income was up 24% to £115.9m, driving a 22% jump in EPRA earnings to £74.5m (6% on a per share basis to 9.3p).
The company paid/declared a dividend for the year of 8.3p, 112% covered by earnings.
Post year end, the company raised £120m in a placing, which it said would fund its acquisition pipeline of urban logistics assets.
LondonMetric’s loan to value (LTV) was 35.9% but drops to 30.9% on a proforma basis when the £120m equity raise is included.
Andrew Jones, chief executive, said: “Whilst the timing and suddenness of the pandemic were unforeseeable, many trends that we are seeing play out were already in the system and are being accelerated as temporary behaviours become more permanent. We are seeing events that were expected to take years to emerge now happening in months or even weeks. As a result, real estate performances continue to polarise, with many distressed sectors being severely damaged whilst the winning sectors are likely to see a wider margin of victory.”
LMP : LondonMetric reports dip in NAV