Sirius Real Estate sees rent roll grow YOY

Property company Sirius Real Estate said on Monday that it had delivered a year-on-year increase in like-for-like rent roll and that it was now trading in line with expectations.

Sirius said that despite trading amidst "a backdrop of negative headlines" in both Germany and the UK, it had continued trading in line with expectations during the six months ended 31 September, with like-for-like rent roll growth compared to the prior year of 7.7%.

In Germany, occupancy remained "stable" and Sirius continued to achieve rental rate growth ahead of inflation, while in the UK it continued to focus on driving value from BizSpace. Occupancy in the UK was higher than six months prior and rent roll exceeded £50.0m for the first time, buoyed by a "record new business sales month" in September.

The London-listed group added that its balance sheet remained "robust" with cash reserves of €112.0m, of which €88.0m was unrestricted, and that it was still active on both acquisitions and disposals, with two UK acquisitions in the period running at a 9.6% net initial yield and a disposal in Germany coming with a 6.0% net initial yield.

Chief executive Andrew Coombs said: "Our performance in the first half, trading in line with expectations against the backdrop of challenging conditions in both our markets, demonstrates the strength of the Sirius platform and our people.

"I'm also pleased to say the success of Sirius has allowed us to attract the talent required to continue the group's growth and I look ahead with confidence."

As of 1130 BST, Sirius shares were up 0.20% at 84.87p.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com