In QuotedData’s morning briefing 27 May 2021:
- Apax Global Alpha is committing $90m to the new Apax Digital Fund II. like Apax Digital, the new fund will invest in a balanced portfolio of minority equity and growth buyout opportunities in mid-market technology companies globally. Apax has a longstanding focus on the technology sector and a global reach.
- LondonMetric Property has announced its annual results for the year ended 31 March 2021. Net rental income was up by 6%, and by 8% on an IFRS basis. EPRA earnings were also up by 15% to £85.6m, +3% on a per share basis. The trust achieved a total property return of 13.4%, outperforming its IPD All Property benchmark which was up only 1.2, while its total accounting return for the year was 16.7%. Rent collection levels exceeded 98%. LondonMetric was also able to increase its dividend for a sixth year in a row, rising by 4.2% and 110% covered by EPRA earnings. Andrew Jones, Chief Executive of LondonMetric, said: “Whilst we have all experienced a truly unprecedented last 12 months, in many ways Covid-19 has merely accelerated longer term trends that were already being driven by technological advancement and changing consumer behaviour. Logistics, healthcare and grocery real estate have been significant beneficiaries of this acceleration delivering standout performances and enjoying an ever-wider margin of victory over other real estate sectors. The performance of our portfolio during the year reflects our alignment to the winning sectors and increasingly wanting to own the best assets. Our £2.6 billion portfolio has weathered the storm in fine shape evidenced by very strong rent collection, continued earnings growth and significant valuation uplift, all of which are as a result of longer term decisions to align to the winning macro trends. The urban logistics sector in particular, where we have now amassed over £1 billion of assets, has been our main conviction call for a number of years and is enjoying truly exceptional demand/supply dynamics resulting in material jumps in rents.”
- Picton Property Income also revealed its preliminary annuals results for the year ending 31 March 2021. Headline figures include profit after tax of £33.8m, an increase of more than 50% on the previous year, while net assets were £528m, or 97p per share, an increase of 3.7%. The trust achieved a total return of 6.6% while 92% of rental income was received, with a further 1% deferred. Total dividends of £15m were paid, with dividend cover of 134%. The total property return was 7.3%, ahead of its MSCI UK Quarterly Property Index return of 1.2%. Chief executive, Michael Morris, said: “Our portfolio structure, conservative gearing and potential to grow income and value through leasing activity put us in a strong position looking forward. We have invested in the portfolio in recent years, upgrading the quality of accommodation, giving us confidence in our ability to let it. The pandemic and its impact are sadly not completely behind us, and there are likely to be more hurdles to overcome. The impacts of the unwinding of Government support, the continued efficacy of the vaccine and speed in which we return to normal, including tourism, travel and even the daily commute to the office, are still not clear. We will continue to create opportunities from our existing portfolio and more widely as the UK gradually returns to life as normal and lockdown conditions ease.”
- Civitas Social Housing announced it would be reporting its results for the full year ended 31 March 2021, on 30 June 2021.
- Taylor Maritime Investments started trading this morning. 253,678,486 ordinary shares were admitted to the premium listing segment and to trading on the main market of the London Stock Exchange at 8.00 a.m. today. The initial seed portfolio purchase will complete today, bringing 7 vessels into the fund for $182.8m, part-financed by the issue of 93,678,485 ordinary shares. The remaining seed assets (comprising six vessels) are currently expected to complete between July 2021 and February 2022. The consideration for these of $81.3m will be part-financed by the issue of about 13.3m ordinary shares.
We also have full year results from TR Property and Caledonia Investments. Meanwhile Tritax EuroBox has announced details of its new green bond issuance and Downing Renewables & Infrastructure and The Renewables Infrastructure Group both share acquisition news. Finally, we have Liontrust ESG’s prospectus.