Derwent London lettings 'substantially' exceed first half
FTSE 250-listed real estate investment trust Derwent London said occupier demand remained solid in the third quarter.
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Second half lettings increased 6% quarter-on-quarter to £14.5m, while total year-to-date lettings almost doubled to £23m.
Derwent's EPRA vacancy rate fell to 2.3% from the 4.2% recorded at the midway point of the year before.
The firm revealed it had already let over two-thirds of its currently under construction Brunel Building, principally to Sony Pictures, Alpha FX, Coach and football's Premier League. Derwent expects Brunel to be completed in the first half of 2019.
Net debt rose 8.6% to £892.4m during the quarter as a result of its acquisition of 88-94 Tottenham Court Road and £50.6m worth of capital expenditure on other projects.
Derwent's loan-to-value ratio increased to 16.3% in September 2018 with NAV gearing at 21.1%.
Chief executive John Burns, said: "Second half lettings have already substantially exceeded those in the first half."
"We have now successfully de-risked both of our on-site developments and lowered our vacancy rate, placing us in an excellent position to progress our next two major developments."
As of 1010 GMT, Derwent shares had picked up 1.21% to 3,101p.