NewRiver Retail boasts record interim results

NewRiver Retail reported record first half results on Wednesday, with pre-tax profits more than tripling.

The retail property investor reported a 190% increase in EPRA adjusted profit to £19.7m, with profit before tax up 243% to £42.2m, in its unaudited results to 30 September 2015.

NewRiver also announced a fully-covered dividend per share of 9p.

In the period, the six-year-old firm raised £150m in fresh equity from new and existing shareholders, and made £230m of acquisitions at an average yield of 9.6%.

It now has balance sheet assets of £882m, manages total assets worth £1bn, and boasts a retail occupancy rate of 96%.

“Following the over-subscribed £150mequity fundraise, we efficiently deployed the proceeds into £230m of strategic acquisitions at an average yield of 9.6% simultaneously growing our assets under management to the landmark £1bn mark”, said chief executive David Lockhart.

“Our move to the main market is targeted for July 2016 and will mark another important milestone in our impressive journey”, Lockhart added.

As of 11:10 on Wedneday, NewRiver shares were up 2.84% to 344.5p.