Demand for quality office space in and around Dublin remains brisk, and property landlord Green Reit (GRN) was able to lift adjusted earnings for the six months to December 2017 by nearly a quarter to €22.1m (£19.6m). The strong performance came despite an increase in the rate of stamp duty on commercial real estate transactions last October from 2 per cent to 6 per cent, which trimmed adjusted net asset value by 8.5p a share.
Headline profits were boosted by further yield compression that lifted the portfolio valuation by €31.3m, while contracted annual rents grew by 5.5 per cent to €72.7m. Completion of One Molesworth Street added €4m of contracted rent, and a further €8.6m of annual rent will come from developments in progress. And there is an estimated 5 per cent reversion within the existing portfolio that will be crystallised as leases come up for renewal.
A further 28 acres have been acquired at Horizons Logistic Park, bringing the total to around 300 acres. Construction of three new units were started, with one already pre-let for an annual rental income of €1.5m.
Gearing on a loan-to-value basis rose from 20.2 per cent to 22.1 per cent, and is expected to reach around 26 per cent as the company deploys a further €91m to complete its current development schemes. Funding costs remain low, with the current lending facility carrying an interest rate of just 1.7 per cent.
| GREEN REIT (GRN) | ||||
| ORD PRICE: | 155¢ | MARKET VALUE: | €1.08bn | |
| TOUCH: | 155-158¢ | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 164¢ | LOW: 131¢ |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 4.9% | DEVELOPMENT PROPERTIES: | €41.1m | |
| DISCOUNT TO NAV: | 8% | NET DEBT: | 24% | |
| INVESTMENT PROPERTIES: | €1.41bn | |||
| Half-year to 31 Dec | Net asset value (¢) | Pre-tax profit (€m) | Earnings per share (¢) | Dividend per share (¢) |
| 2016 | 167 | 43.7 | 6.4 | nil |
| 2017 | 169 | 53.0 | 7.7 | 2.6 |
| % change | +1 | +21 | +20 | - |
| Ex-div: | tba | |||
| Payment: | tba | |||
| £1 = €1.13 | ||||
