Strong London performance pushes up Segro’s headline rent contract value
Property giant Segro has increased the value of new headline rent contracts signed for the third quarter.
The investor and developer said it signed contracts worth £15.3m over the period, up from £12.6m over the same time last year.
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The growth brings its total headline rent contracts signed for the year to £48.6m. That is down from £52m at this point in 2018.
Rent roll growth from existing space in the third quarter was £2.1m, down from £5.5m last year.
Segro said it had “continued to capture reversionary potential” from its portfolio, “with new headline rents on review and renewal approximately 20 per cent higher than previous passing rent”.
The firm said the Slough trading estate and its greater London portfolio made strong contributions to performance.
Vacancy rates remained largely stable at 4.9 per cent, up from 4.8 per cent.
“The third quarter has seen another period of strong operational delivery from Segro,” chief executive David Sleath said.
“We have continued to secure high levels of new rental income both from our existing portfolio and from our active development programme, in which we have over 1m square metres of new space under construction or in advanced discussions.”
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“During the period we also added further land and assets in our core urban markets, including in London and Paris to support further growth.”
“Looking ahead, the combination of new rental income from the development programme, compounded with the benefits of active asset management of our existing portfolio, should enable us to drive sustainable growth in both earnings and dividends.”
Shares were largely stable this morning.