Urban Logistics confident in sector after solid results

(Sharecast News) - Specialist logistics real estate investment trust reported a 12.6% improvement in its EPRA net asset value per share to 137.96p in its year-end results on Friday.The AIM-traded firm said its portfolio valuation as at 31 March stood at £186.4m, while its EPRA earnings per share were ahead 42.7% year-on-year at 7.01p.A second interim dividend was declared, of 4.02p per share, making for a total of 7.00p per share for the financial period, which was a 10.8% improvement over the prior year.A total of £20.4m of equity capital was raised from new and existing investors during the year in April, while the firm said its total accounting return, being net asset value plus dividends, stood at 17.7% for the period."The group has delivered another strong performance over the financial period," said chairman Nigel Rich."Three years on from the company's IPO we continue to build an increasingly diversified and high-quality urban logistics portfolio with secure income from our tenants."Rich noted that, after the firm undertook a capital raise of £20m in April, it subsequently focussed on investment and asset management activity."The fundamentals of our market remain attractive and we are confident of continuing to deliver consistent returns for our shareholders."Chief executive officer Richard Moffitt added that Urban Logistics remained real estate's "top performing" sub-sector, with the company remaining focused on growing its portfolio and enabling its tenant base to meet the challenges of e-commerce, modern logistics and evolving infrastructure demands."Growth of online retail continues to create yet more demand for distribution warehousing. Supply is not keeping pace, meaning logistics assets, especially 'last-mile' fulfilment centres, offer investors the opportunity for capital appreciation and rental income growth."I also note that over 80% of our tenants hold the highest possible credit rating, demonstrating the security of our income."Looking ahead, Moffitt said the firm had a "high-quality" acquisition pipeline, and was continuing to assess the potential for additional equity financing to grow the business."Whilst capital values are falling in the retail property sector, we are witnessing continued improvement in our sector due to both rental growth and lease activity - our focus being on quality tenants and the improvement of both rental and lease terms."This translates to value increases at the asset level and we remain confident in our ability to continue sourcing opportunities at attractive yields."