Warehouse REIT posted a resilient financial performance in the six months to 30 September 2022, driven in large part by strong occupier demand.
Gross property income grew slightly to £24.1m versus £23.4m in the same period last year and operating profit also increased slightly from £16.7m to £17m.
Neil Kirton, chairman of Warehouse REIT, said: “Since the start of the period, economic conditions have changed markedly, with inflation and interest rates in the UK both rising sharply. However, the successful and consistent execution of our strategy has given us a resilient portfolio of well-located assets, a large and diverse base of occupiers and a strong financial position. The transfer from AIM to the main market in July was an important step for the company and demonstrates the progress we have made since our IPO in 2017. The board remains rigorously focused on managing risk and carefully deploying capital, and we believe we are well-placed to continue to create value for shareholders and our other stakeholders.”
Andrew Bird, managing director of Warehouse REIT’s investment advisor Tilstone Partners, added: “We are looking forward with cautious optimism: the UK warehouse occupational market still remains favourable, ensuring minimal impact on the company’s trading performance, its assets are critical to occupiers and rents account for only a fraction of their total costs. The group’s portfolio also presents further opportunities to create value through active asset management, which we believe is a key differentiator, enabling us to capture the significant reversion and deliver continued earnings growth.
“In addition, we have continued to successfully implement our value creation strategy during the period, in particular by securing committee approval for planning at Radway 16, Crewe. This is a major milestone for the group and will see us deliver much-needed logistics space in one of our key regional markets.”
