Great Portland Estates delivers 'record leasing year'

Property developer and investor Great Portland Estates said on Wednesday that it had delivered "a record leasing year", driven by sustained demand for its "high quality spaces", most notably its fitted and fully managed products.

Great Portland Estates it had signed £55.5m in new leasing during the year ended 31 March, 3.3% ahead of its March 2022 enterprise rental value. For the fourth quarter, GPE signed 11 new leases and renewals, generating annual rent of £4.4m.

GP also locked in its largest ever pre-let at 2 Aldermanbury Square, valued at £24.7m on a 20-year term, 17 fitted and fully managed leases at £181 per square foot, and 35 new retail leases for £10.2m of rent.

Chief executive Toby Courtauld said: "A good final quarter completes a record leasing year for GPE as we continued to see sustained demand for our high-quality spaces, particularly for our fitted and fully managed products. Whilst the macroeconomic volatility persists, we remain confident that we are well placed for these market conditions.

"We anticipate that the uncertain outlook in the near term will exacerbate the shortage of new deliveries in central London, supporting rents for the best spaces and, given our low levels of leverage, present opportunities in the investment market to add to our development pipeline and expand our fitted and fully managed offers."

As of 0855 BST, Great Portland shares were up 1.07% at 519.50p.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com