(Alliance News) - Schroder European Real Estate Investment Trust PLC on Tuesday awarded its shareholders a special dividend following the sale of a property in France, but it posted a sharp drop in annual profit.
For the financial year ended September 30, the London- and Johannesburg-listed property investor reported pretax profit of EUR9.3 million, down steeply from EUR29.3 million in the prior year.
Net rental and related income fell slightly to EUR13.0 million from EUR13.5 million previously. Net asset value per share also slipped a bit to 149.2 euro cents from 150.9 cents.
For the year, Schroder European declared a total dividend of 7.1 cents, up from 5.7 cents last year. It also paid out a special dividend of 4.8 cents, reflecting the profitable sale of Boulogne-Billancourt. It expects more special payouts.
The company has substantial cash reserves as a result of the successful forward funding sale of the Paris office building in Boulogne-Billancourt.
Rent collection has steadily improved, from 89% in the first quarter to 95% in the most recent quarter.
Looking ahead, Schroder European said it was confident in its outlook, given the strong cash position, diversification, exposure to higher growth cities and local management expertise.
By Artwell Dlamini; artwelldlamini@alliancenews.com
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Schroder Eur.r (SERE)