The health of the German commercial property market was brought sharply into focus with a barnstorming performance from real-estate landlord Sirius Real Estate (SRE). Profits were boosted by a €44m (£34m) revaluation surplus on the portfolio, up sharply from €25m a year earlier, and, crucially, a combination of acquisitions and rental increases helped to lift rental income by nearly a quarter to €55.8m.
Sirius has also been extremely successful in reducing the cost of debt. A new seven-year facility for €59m was secured at an interest rate of just 1.84 per cent, and during the year the average cost of debt has been virtually halved to 2.2 per cent overall, with average maturities stretching out from 4.4 years to 5.5 years.
Total new lettings were up by 150,864 sq metres (sq m), while average rents grew from €5.02 per sq m to €5.33 per sq m. Organic rental growth was boosted by continued progress with an initiative to develop around 100,000 sq m of previously unlettable or under-rented space. This has now been expanded to cover around 200,000 sq m, including vacant space made through acquisitions.
Analysts at Peel Hunt are forecasting adjusted net asset value of 59¢ at the March 2017 year-end, up from 53¢.
| SIRIUS REAL ESTATE (SRE) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 47.75¢ | MARKET VALUE: | €359m | |
| TOUCH: | 47-48.5¢ | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 53.5¢ | LOW: 41.75¢ |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 4.6% | TRADING PROPERTIES: | nil | |
| DISCOUNT TO NAV: | 7% | |||
| INVESTMENT PROP: | €687m | NET DEBT: | 71% | |
| Year to 31 Mar | Net asset value (¢) | Pre-tax profit (€m) | Earnings per share (¢) | Dividend per share (¢) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 57.1 | -31.1 | -10.3 | nil |
| 2013 | 47.6 | -29.5 | -9.5 | nil |
| 2014 | 43.6 | 31.0 | 7.3 | 0.3 |
| 2015 | 45.7 | 32.7 | 4.8 | 1.61 |
| 2016 | 51.5 | 57.1 | 7.5 | 2.22 |
| % change | +13 | +75 | +55 | +38 |
Ex-div: 16 Jun Payment: 15 Jul | ||||
