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(Alliance News) - Sirius Real Estate Ltd on Monday reported a jump in full-year profit as it performed well during the pandemic.
The London-based operator of German business parks commented that the "comprehensive" response of the German government was significant in maintaining stable levels of employment and curbing the potential economic harm of the pandemic.
Sirius Real Estate reported pretax profit of EUR163.7 million for the year to March 31, up 48% from EUR110.8m the year prior. Net operating income increasing by 10% year-on-year to EUR93.8 million from EUR85.3 million.
The company's annualised rent roll increased by 7.6% to EUR97.2 million, with the company noting the like-for-like increase of 5.2%. This marked the seventh consecutive year of growth exceeding the 5.0% mark. Occupancy rates for the company's properties reached 87.0% compared with 86.3% in the prior year.
Sirius Real Estate's net asset value per share as at March 31 increased by 14% to 88.31 euro cents compared to 77.35 euro cents the year prior.
The company's total dividend for the year was 3.80 cents, up 6.4% on the year before.
Sirius Real Estate returned to acquiring properties in the second half of the financial year, ending March 31. The company purchased four assets with a combined value of EUR35.2 million, adding one further asset worth EUR10.7 million soon after the year end. In addition, the company now holds a 35% stake in the Augsburg business park which was notarised by Titanium for EUR79.9 million.
Chief Executive Officer, Andrew Coombs, said: "Our diverse EUR1.3 billion 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 small and medium-sized enterprises 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 and funds from operation we have reported today."
The company has a positive outlook for the coming year noting that it has number of vacancies to develop and cash available to make further acquisitions.
Chief Financial Officer of Sirius Real Estate, Alistair Marks, noted that the company plans to deliver "sustainable returns" for shareholders by continuing with its "well-balanced and measured approach" in future.
Marks said: "Whilst there still remains some uncertainty as the roll out of vaccination programmes in Germany and across Europe continues, the Company's performance over the last year gives reason for cautious optimism going forward.
"The company will remain focused on maximising the capability of its internal operating platform to continue to deliver attractive risk-adjusted returns through its active asset management throughout the property cycle."
Sirius Real Estate shares were trading down 0.2% at 101.00 pence each in London and down 0.5% at ZAR19.15 in Johannesburg on Monday.
By Scarlett Butler; scarlettbutler@alliancenews.com
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