NewRiver REIT chief executive Allan Lockhart hailed a “successful and transformative year” for the business as he unveiled the company’s preliminary results for the financial year ending 31 March 2025.
In the last 12 months, the company has completed the acquisition of Capital & Regional for £151m and fully transferred the assets onto NewRiver’s operating platform, growing its portfolio value to just under £900m
The REIT increased its underlying funds from operations by 25% to £30.5m and made an IFRS profit after tax of £23.7m.
The company has also announced the sale of the 320,000 sq ft Abbey Centre, Newtownabbey in Northern Ireland to the Herbert Group for £58.8m in a deal reflecting a net initial yield of circa 9%.
NewRiver expects to reinvest the capital into opportunities with superior income and capital growth potential and in the meantime, the sales proceeds will be used to reduce NewRiver’s LTV as at 31 March 2025 by circa 4% bringing it within LTV guidance of under 40%.
Lockhart said: “It has been a successful and transformative year for NewRiver, the highlight of which was the highly earnings accretive acquisition of Capital & Regional. Whilst M&A activity was our primary focus in the year, this did not detract from our operational performance, and we have delivered another year of excellent leasing both in terms of pricing and volume, as well as earnings growth from Capital Partnerships.
“The benefits of the Capital & Regional acquisition are already flowing through and our long-term aim is to deliver consistent market leading earnings growth beyond those benefits. We are confident of achieving this given the range of growth drivers that we have at our disposal underpinned by a market place that is in the best position it has been in for several years.”
