30 July 2021

 

Custodian REIT plc

 

("Custodian REIT" or the "Company")

 

Disposal of Properties

 

Custodian REIT (LSE: CREI), the UK property investment company, is pleased to announce it has unconditionally exchanged on the disposal of a portfolio of properties ("the Portfolio") for £23.355 million, with completion due on 29 September 2021. 

 

The Portfolio comprises five industrial sites in Gateshead, Stockton-on-Tees, Warrington, Stone and Christchurch with a current passing rent of £1.4 million.  The properties within the Portfolio were acquired either in the seed portfolio at IPO or within subsequent portfolio acquisitions.

 

The agreed sale price of £23.355m is £4.07m (21%) above the Portfolio's 31 March 2021 valuation and £2.13m (10%) above the Portfolio's 30 June 2021 valuation and will add 0.5p1 to the 30 June 2021 NAV per share on scheduled completion.

 

Commenting on the disposal, Richard Shepherd-Cross, Managing Director of Custodian Capital Limited (the Company's external fund manager), said:

 

"Investment demand and pricing for industrial assets are both at record levels, so we believe now is the best time to sell to capitalise on the current, favourable market dynamics to secure a significant profit.

 

"While the short-term prospects for the each of the properties in the Portfolio remain robust, over the medium term we consider them as non-core assets due to a combination of age, construction, location and site layout limiting future rental growth or demanding significant capital expenditure.

 

"We have agreed a delayed completion to sustain dividend cover while we re-deploy proceeds which we have already begun to invest pre-emptively in higher quality assets with greater prospects for income and capital growth, better supporting the Board's objective of increasing dividends in a sustainable way."

 

1 Based on the current issued share capital of 420,603,344 shares.

 

- Ends -

 

For further information, please contact:

 

Custodian Capital Limited
Richard Shepherd-Cross / Ed Moore / Ian Mattioli MBE	Tel: +44 (0)116 240 8740
	www.custodiancapital.com

 

Numis Securities Limited
Hugh Jonathan	Tel: +44 (0)20 7260 1000
	www.numiscorp.com

 

Camarco
Ed Gascoigne-Pees	Tel: +44 (0)20 3757 4984
	www.camarco.co.uk

 

Notes to Editors

 

Custodian REIT is a UK real estate investment trust with a portfolio comprising properties predominantly let to institutional grade tenants throughout the UK, principally characterised by properties with individual values of less than £10m at acquisition.

 

The Company offers investors the opportunity to access a diversified portfolio of UK commercial real estate through a closed-ended fund.  By principally targeting sub £10m lot size, regional properties, the Company intends to provide investors with an attractive level of income and the potential for capital growth, becoming the REIT of choice for private and institutional investors seeking high and stable dividends from well-diversified UK real estate.

 

Custodian Capital Limited is the discretionary investment manager of the Company. 

 

For more information visit www.custodianreit.com and www.custodiancapital.com.