Real Estate Investors says its rent collection for the March quarter so far is 81% of rents due. For the remainder, Real Estate Investors is talking to the tenants and expects to agree repayment of outstanding arrears. Over the past three months, 18 new lease events have extended the weighted average unexpired lease term (WAULT) from 5.79 years to 6.63 years (from 3.82 years to break to 4.96 years).
At 15 June, the portfolio consists of 58 assets and 277 occupiers. The company has £17.3m of contracted rental income and occupancy of 95.14%. That is a little less than the 96.3% level at the end of 2019. The portfolio is diversified by sector, asset and tenant, offices (38.12%) is the largest sector by rental income. The largest occupier is the government at 7.98%.
Dividend
Given the uncertainty that COVID-19 has created, the board has decided to reduce the quarterly dividend payment. If rents roll in as normal, they will pay a larger final dividend. The quarterly dividend will be 0.5p and the first one of these will be paid in July. The quarterly dividends were 0.9375p and the company paid 3.81p for last year.
Paul Bassi, CEO of Real Estate Investors Plc, said: “The diversity of our portfolio combined with our close working relationships with our tenants and their advisers, together with managements’ in-depth knowledge of the regional marketplace, continues to be the strength of our business model. That said, given the current market environment, it is appropriate that we act prudently and a logical precaution is to reduce dividend payments during the course of the year leaving the option to make a larger final payment, if the company is able to continue to maintain its current resilience.”
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