Segro hikes FY dividend following 'highly successful year'

Real estate investment trust Segro hiked its full-year dividend on Friday as it said 2021 had been "a highly successful year" for the firm, with adjusted pre-tax profits and net asset value improving amid record levels of rental growth.

Segro hiked its full-year dividend by 10% to 24.3p as it posted a 20% jump in pre-tax profits to £356.0m, a 15% increase in adjusted earnings per share to 29.1p and a 40% improvement in its adjusted net asset value per share to 1,137.0p, driven by portfolio valuation growth of 29%.

The FTSE 100-listed firm highlighted that strong occupier demand, customer focus and the active management of its portfolio generated £95.0m of new headline rent commitments during the period, including £49.0m of new pre-let agreements, and a 13% average uplift on rent reviews and renewals.

Segro stated that it had also witnessed continued momentum in its development pipeline, with 1.1m square metres of projects under construction or in advanced pre-let discussions, equating to £82.0m of potential rent, of which 70% has been pre-let. The company also pointed out that its balance sheet was "well positioned to support further, development-led growth", with access to £1.1bn of available liquidity and an LTV of 23% at 31 December 2021.

Chief executive David Sleath said: "2021 was a highly successful year for Segro as reflected in our full-year results which include a £4.1bn portfolio valuation uplift and record levels of rental growth. Investor and occupier supply-demand dynamics in the industrial and logistics sector remain very favourable, led by the long-term trends of digitalisation, supply chain resilience and an increasing focus on sustainability."