Warehouse REIT sells £57.5m of single-let assets

Warehouse REIT announced the completion of £57.5m in sales of single-let assets on Monday, through three separate transactions.

The London-listed real estate investment trust said the sales were part of its ongoing deleveraging plan, announced in November 2022, and brought total sales under the plan to £165.2m.

It said the transactions included the sale of Barlborough Links in Chesterfield for £46m, Parkway Industrial Estate in Plymouth for £6.3m, and Celtic Business Park in Newport for £5.2m.

The combined sales price aligned with the 31 March valuation, and represented a net yield on passing rent of 5.8%.

Following the sales, the portfolio's weighting towards multi-let warehouses increased from 70% as of 30 September last year, to around 77% on a pro forma basis.

The board said that shift aligned with the company’s strategic focus on the multi-let warehouse sector, which offered a broader range of occupiers and quicker rental reversion opportunities due to more frequent lease events.

Additionally, Warehouse REIT said it was continuing to focus on its development site at Radway Green in Crewe, where negotiations were apparently progressing well.

“Rebuilding dividend coverage is our key priority, and by reducing our debt and our finance costs, the sale of these single-let assets is an important milestone in that respect,” said Simon Hope of Tilstone Partners, Warehouse REIT’s investment adviser.

“At the same time, we continue to reshape our portfolio to focus on the highly attractive multi-let subsector of UK real estate, which plays to our strengths and is where we can drive income and capital growth over the long term.”

Warehouse REIT said it would announce its full-year results for the 12 months ended 31 March on 25 June.

At 1115 BST, shares in Warehouse REIT were up 2.03% at 80.4p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.