Sirius Real Estate, the German business parks owner and operator, posted a net asset value (NAV) total return for the year to 31 March 2021 of 19.5%.
This was generated from a 15.0% uplift in NAV and 3.62 euro cents dividends paid in the year.
The strength of the German business park sector, especially in the middle of a global pandemic, was borne out in a 5.2% like-for-like increase in annualised rent roll – the seventh consecutive year of like-for-like rent roll growth in excess of 5%.
Annualised rent roll was €97.2m – an increase of 7.6% when acquisitions were taken into account.
Other highlights from the results are:
- 11.5% increase in like-for-like investment property book value to €1.31bn (2020: €1.18bn) led by asset management initiatives, rental growth and yield compression
- Profit before tax of €163.7m, representing a 47.7% year-on-year increase, including €103.9m of gains from property revaluations
- Strong cash collection rate of 98.2% for the 12-month period to 31 March 2021
- Occupancy up to 87.0% (2020: 85.3%), with like-for-like occupancy increasing to 86.9% (2020: 85.2%), providing further scope to grow income through asset management initiatives
- 18.5% increase in enquiries and 13% sales conversion rate in the period, driven by the company’s specialist sales and marketing platform
- Total cash balance of €65.7m at year end, of which €49.3 million is unrestricted
- Net loan to value (LTV) of 31.4% as at 31 March 2021 (2020: 32.8%).
Andrew Coombs, chief executive, said: “Against the challenging backdrop of the pandemic, Sirius has delivered a set of strong results providing a clear demonstration of our ability to utilise our operating platform in all market conditions to increase income and capital values. Our diverse €1.3bn portfolio of business and industrial parks located in and around Germany’s main cities offers a flexible range of uses that continue to be attractive to our broad occupier base which comprises both large domestic and international businesses, as well as the SMEs that are the engine room of the German economy. This is evidenced clearly by the rental increases we achieved this year, which have contributed to the strong growth in profitability.”
“Despite the continued degree of market uncertainty as a result of the pandemic, more confidence is breathed into the market every day as the vaccine is rolled out successfully in Germany and across Europe. We have ended the year with a strong balance sheet which will allow us to take advantage of acquisition opportunities as they arise and continue to grow income and capital values through selective investment.”
SRE: Sirius Real Estate posts impressive NAV total return