LondonMetric offloads six properties for £24.5m

LondonMetric Property announced the sale of four offices and two long-income assets in separate transactions on Thursday for a total of £24.5m in proceeds.

The FTSE 250 company said that among the assets sold were four non-core properties from the CT Property Trust (CTPT) portfolio, which LondonMetric recently acquired.

Those properties, including three regional offices and a car showroom in Newbury, were sold for £15.3m.

Notably, the buildings boasted a weighted average unexpired lease term (WAULT) of six years.

The company said the transaction followed its prior sale of three high-street retail assets from the CTPT portfolio.

LondonMetric also divested an office investment located in Worcester for £3.2m.

The property was initially acquired as part of the A&J Mucklow takeover in 2019 and was currently leased for an additional seven years.

Furthermore, in response to an off-market proposition, LondonMetric sold a convenience food investment property in Leicester for £6m.

The firm said the sale reflected a net initial yield of 5.3%, taking into account rent adjustments.

LondonMetric initially acquired this property in 2016 for £4.6m, with it currently leased to Aldi for another 13 years, with eight years remaining until the first break option.

Notably, all six assets were sold at a premium, fetching 1% above their book value and an impressive 10% above their underwriting value.

“Despite elevated debt costs, we are seeing good liquidity for smaller lot sizes across all sectors of the investment market,” said chief executive officer Andrew Jones.

“Since completion of the CTPT acquisition in August, we have now sold seven of the 33 assets acquired representing 8% of the portfolio by value, at prices comfortably ahead of our underwrite values.”

At 0855 GMT, shares in LondonMetric Property were up 4.28% at 173.83p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.