Branded business and industrial parks owner-operator Sirius Real Estate reported strong trading and like-for-like rent roll growth of 7.7% for the six months ended 30 September 2023.
The company said occupancy remained stable in its German portfolio and it continued to achieve rental growth ahead of inflation.
In the UK, Sirius said rental growth was ahead of its German operations, with the company’s rent roll exceeding £50m for the first time, buoyed by a record new business sales month in September. Occupancy was also higher than six months prior.
The group said it remains active on acquisitions and disposals, with two UK acquisitions in the period running at a 9.6% net initial yield and a disposal in Germany at a 6.0% NIY.
It added that its disposals strategy “remains opportunistic and focused on non-core or mature assets with little upside, where we have continued to achieve returns in excess of book value. We remain disciplined in our approach to acquisitions and continue to see a healthy pipeline of potential opportunities across Germany and the UK”.
Sirius also announced that Alistair Marks, who had been acting as interim CFO prior to the recent arrival of Chris Bowman, will leave the group at the end of March next year.
Andrew Coombs, chief executive officer of Sirius Real Estate, said: “I firstly want to thank Alistair Marks for his contribution to the success of Sirius. Alistair and I have worked together for the last 13 years and I would like to recognise Alistair’s contribution to so much of what we have achieved as a management team over the last decade.
“I’m also pleased to say the success of Sirius has allowed us to attract the talent required to continue the group’s growth and I look ahead with confidence. Our performance in the first half, trading in line with expectations against the backdrop of challenging conditions in both our markets, demonstrates the strength of the Sirius platform and our people.”
