Impax Environmental Markets (IEM) announced the appointment of Guy Walker as an independent non-executive director of the company with effect from 17 May 2023. Guy is currently senior independent director at JPMorgan European Growth & Income plc, having joined them in 2021. He was previously managing director UK & European Equities at UBS Asset Management and before that he held various roles at Schroder Investment Management, including as non-executive director of Schroder Pension Trustee Limited, global head of ESG investment and head of equity research. Guy helped to set up the Investor Forum in 2014 and still acts as a senior adviser to it.
Atrato Onsite Energy (ROOF) has announced the appointment of Duncan Neale as an independent non-executive director of the company with effect from 12 April 2023. He will also join the audit committee and management engagement committee and will hold the position of audit chair with effect from the same date. Duncan is a chief financial officer and finance director with over 20 years of public and private markets experience. He is a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants having qualified with Price WaterhouseCoopers in London. Duncan is currently a non-executive director and audit chair of Gresham House Energy Storage Fund. He is also a trustee of Cambodian Children’s Fund UK.
Following the release on 28 March 2023 of CT Private Equity’s preliminary results for the year ended 31 December 2022 the company has announced that its annual report and financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2022 will be published today. You can see our summary of the results here.
Great Portland Estates (GPE) announced it had recorded a record year for leasing. In the year to 31 March 2023, the office developer and investor signed 105 new leases and renewals covering 861,200 sq ft and generating annual rent of £55.5m at an average 3.3% ahead of March 2022 ERV. The first quarter of 2023 (its fourth quarter) saw the company sign 11 new leases and renewals for £4.4m of annual rent. By far the largest letting in the year was the pre-let of 2 Aldermanbury Square in the City of London, to Clifford Chance on a 20-year term, worth £24.7m a year in rent. Further leasing deals worth £4.8m of annual rent is currently under offer.
LXI REIT (LXI) has reported that the value of its property portfolio as at 31 March 2023 was £3.36bn (30 September 2022: £3.66bn), reflecting a net initial yield of 5.35% (30 September 2022: 4.87%) – an outward yield shift of 48 basis points. This reflects an 8.6% life-for-like reduction in value in the six months. It estimates that EPRA NTA per share will fall to 120 pence per share (30 September 2022: 140 pence). On the basis of the above valuation, the company’s loan-to-value (LTV) is expected to stand at 38% (30 September 2022: 32%), above its medium-term target LTV level of 30%.
PRS REIT (PRSR) has completed the development of its 5,000th rental home. Its portfolio of completed homes at 31 March 2023 stands at 5,010. A further 516 homes with an estimated rental value (ERV) of £5.2m are under construction. The group’s delivery programme is now 89% complete. The ERV of the 5,010 completed homes in the portfolio is £52.7m per annum and once the delivery programme has been completed, the number of homes in the portfolio will increase to approximately 5,600 homes with an ERV of £58m per annum.
Unite Group (UTG) has said that the value of its student accommodation portfolios are unchanged in the quarter to 31 March 2023. The group’s UK Student Accommodation Fund (USAF) was independently valued at £2,888m, unchanged on a like-for-like basis, and the London Student Accommodation Joint Venture (LSAV) property portfolio was independently valued at £1,918m, reflecting a 0.1% decrease on a like-for-like basis during the quarter. Increased rental growth within the portfolio offset increases in property yields. The USAF and LSAV portfolios are now valued at weighted average yields of 5.1% and 4.2% respectively, which increased by 5 basis points and 10 basis points respectively from 31 December 2022. The company also updated on rooms sold for the 2023/24 academic year, which stands at 90% (2022/23: 78%). This, it said, was supportive of its guidance for full occupancy and rental growth of 6-7% for the 2023/24 academic year (2022/23: 99% and 3.5%). The company is committed to four development schemes, totalling £339m of cost and delivering a blended yield on cost of 6.7%. The £200m remaining costs to complete these projects will be funded through the group’s cash and committed debt headroom of £437m. USAF has agreed terms, and been granted full credit approval, for a new £400m secured loan to refinance the £380m June 2023 USAF bond maturity. Based upon prevailing market interest rates, its expects an all-in cost of debt of approximately 5.0%-5.5%. This is consistent with its guidance for a 3.6% cost of debt in 2023 on a see-though basis.
