Helical had a “good first half of the financial year” meeting or exceeding its development and leasing targets, it revealed in its trading update for the period 1 April to 21 October 2022.
In the six-month period, the developer completed four new lettings totalling 19,642 sq ft, delivering contracted rent of £1.3m at a 2.2% premium to 31 March 2022 ERVs, achieved practical completion at the 205,961 sq ft The JJ Mack Building office building in EC1 and submitted a planning application for the sustainable refurbishment of 100 New Bridge Street, EC4.
“Elsewhere, we recently sold Kaleidoscope (pictured), EC1, at a 4.25% net initial yield, having completed our exit from Manchester in July, as well as disposing of an office and further residential units at Barts Square, EC1,” said Gerald Kaye, chief executive of Helical.
The company also completed the sale of Trinity in Manchester on 20 May 2022 to clients of Mayfair Capital for £34.55m (£590/sq ft), reflecting a net initial yield of 5%, and at Barts Square, EC1, it completed the sale of 55 Bartholomew on 14 June 2022 to a private European investor for £16.5m (Helical’s share was £7.6m), reflecting a net initial yield of 4.5% and a 3% premium to 31 March 2022 book value.
Helical said that by 21 October 2022 it had collected 97.2% of the September quarter rent compared with 93.8% in the same period last year and expected to collect a further 1.2% via agreed payment plans, with the remaining 1.6% subject to ongoing discussions.
