(Alliance News) - Stenprop Ltd said Tuesday it is "very pleased" with its rent collections in March and April.
The real estate investment trust said it has collected 81% of its total rent invoiced and due for the quarter ending June 24.
For its MLI portfolio, an aggregate of 75% of total rent invoiced had been paid by April 30.
"We continue to be in close contact with our customers and expect to recover further rent in due course," Stenprop said.
Chief Executive Paul Arenson added: "We are very pleased with the progress we have made on rent collections. Our ability to be in direct communication with our customers has assisted significantly in this process, and we expect to make further progress on these collection rates over time."
In the first quarter ending March 31, Stenprop said it completed 28 new lettings and 25 lease renewals, totalling 186,513 square foot and generating GBP1.0 million per annum of contractual rental income.
The average rental uplift on the previous passing rent was 34% for new lettings, versus 14% in the previous quarter, and 20% on lease renewals from 12% in the previous quarter.
The average rental incentive given across all new lettings and renewals in the quarter was 2.3 months on an average term to break of 4 years.
The average rent for its MLI portfolio - which makes up 57% of Stenprop's total portfolio - was GBP5.27 per square foot at March 31, up from GBP5.19 in the previous quarter.
The vacancy rate at 31 March stood at 7.3%, up from 5.8% at the end of the previous quarter.
Arenson said: "During the first quarter the occupational market performed strongly as a result of an uptick in business confidence following the [UK] general election in December 2019. We completed a high number of lettings and renewals substantially ahead of previous passing rents, albeit overall occupancy declined due to a few large units being returned to us at lease expiry, as anticipated."
Shares in Stenprop were 1.1% lower in London on Tuesday at 92.50 pence each. In Johannesburg, the stock was down 2.3% at ZAR21.47.
By Paul McGowan; paulmcgowan@alliancenews.com
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