(Alliance News) - Industrials REIT Ltd said on Friday it delivered a strong full-year operating performance as the company completed its transition into a fully fledged multi-let industrial property investor.
The London-based real estate investment trust said pretax profit surged to GBP108.7 million for the financial year that ended March 31 from GBP38.3 million the prior year. IFRS pretax profit was GBP107.5 million, doubled from GBP53.0 million. Adjusted earnings per share inched up to 6.88p from 6.78p.
Revenue was 38% higher at GBP44.2 million from GBP32.0 million.
Industrials REIT declared a full-year dividend of 6.85 pence, up 1.5% slightly from 6.75p.
The company recorded a total accounting return in the recent year of 25%, improved from 20% in financial 2021. Its EPRA net tangible assets per share were GBP1.77 on March 31, up from GBP1.47 a year before.
Occupancy across the portfolio was stable at 93.6% as at March 31 from 93.7% a year before, maintaining upward pressure on rents for available units and giving existing customers limited options upon lease renewal.
Rent collection levels are now nearing pre-Covid levels, with 93% of invoices billed in the financial year 2022 paid, resulting in a reduction in the bad debt expense to GBP1.3 million from GBP2.0 million, the company said.
Industrials REIT Chief Executive Paul Arenson said the recent year marked the end of the company's four-year transition into a fully-fledged multi-let industrial business.
In September, the group changed its name from Stenprop Ltd to Industrials REIT Ltd to align the corporate identity with its "industrials" operating brand and its investment strategy.
Investors will experience the full impact of owning and operating a portfolio of GBP653.5 million multi-let industrial properties in the UK, Arenson said.
Over the last four years, acquisitions have been funded through the sale of non-multi-let industrial assets and from debt.
Going forward, the funds will need to come from a combination of new equity issuance and debt.
"We are pleased to have delivered another strong operating performance, achieving like-for-like rental growth of 4.4% and like-for-like valuation growth of 20.8% across our MLI portfolio, resulting in a total accounting return for the year of 25.0%," Arenson said.
Despite the economic and geopolitical uncertainty, Industrials REIT said it remained confident that the strong fundamentals of the multi-let industrial sector should see it continue to achieve its 4% to 5% per annum rental growth rate target.
In London, shares in Industrials REIT were 0.6% lower at 181.00p on Friday. But they were up by 0.5% at ZAR35.94 in Johannesburg.
By Artwell Dlamini; artwelldlamini@alliancenews.com
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