LondonMetric reports strong rent collection

(Sharecast News) - LondonMetric said it collected 98% of March rents and that rent collection was strong across all sectors.



A further 0.8% of rents is expected soon, the FTSE 250 company said. In individual sectors, 99% of distribution rents were collected, long income was at 98%, offices were 99% and retail parks 95%.

Outstanding rent is £0.2m with half of that figure under discussion and the rest related to companies in administration. Most of this is for a property where LondonMetric is getting vacant possession to rent it to Lidl.

LondonMetric's commercial property business is increasingly focused on warehouses, one of the sectors that has done well during the Covid-19 crisis as people order more online.

For the year to March 2021, LondonMetric has demanded £114.1m rent, of which 98.1% has been collected or is being collected, 1.1% was subject to asset management initiatives, 0.4% was forgiven and 0.4% remains unpaid.

LondonMetric said £0.8m of rent is due in April and also in May under agreed monthly rental concessions. Monthly payments now account for 15% of the total rent roll, compared with 18% as at September 2020.

There is currently £1.5m of rent subject to deferred payments arrangements. This is being collected over the next 12 months. So far all deferred payments have been made in full.