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LONDON (Alliance News) - NewRiver REIT PLC on Wednesday said its profit slashed in the first half of its current financial year by a reduction in portfolio valuation.
The REIT, focused primarily on retail and leisure property, said pretax profit for the year to the end of September dropped to GBP3.3 million from GBP29.9 million reported for the same period a year earlier.
The company said it booked a GBP24.7 million loss on property revaluation versus the GBP2.2 million gain reported a year before.
The company said its property portfolio outperformed the MSCI-IPD benchmark for income return and capital growth, delivering a total return of 2.4%, compared to the benchmark of 0.2%.
Portfolio valuation increased during the period to GBP1.4 billion from GBP1.2 billion following the acquisition of Hawthorn Leisure. At the end of May, NewRiver REIT bought an affiliate of Avenue Capital Group for GBP106.8 million.
Occupancy in NewRiver REIT's Retail portfolio declined to 96.2% from 96.5% year-on-year, with occupancy in its Pub portfolio slipping to 98.6% from 99.0%.
Net property income was slightly higher year-on-year at GBP42.9 million compared to GBP40.5 million.
NewRiver REIT upped its interim payout by 2.9% to 10.8 pence from 10.5p paid the year prior.
"NewRiver has delivered a robust performance in a challenging market, with resilient cash returns underpinned by solid operational metrics," said Chief Executive Allan Lockhart.
"Our continued focus on the growing sub-sectors of the market characterised by convenience, value and frequent spend on everyday essentials continues to serve us well," added Lockhart.
NewRiver REIT shares were trading 0.6% lower on Wednesday at 232.00 pence each.
