Trading Statement
28 November 2007
SEGRO PLC: TRADING UPDATE
SEGRO is participating in the annual UBS Real Estate Conference in London on 29
and 30 November. At that conference SEGRO will be updating investors on recent
business performance and market conditions. The following is a summary of the
key points it will be making.
CEO Ian Coull said
"SEGRO's operating performance has continued strongly and the Group is well
placed to take advantage of the opportunities likely to arise over the coming
months."
The Occupier Market & SEGRO's Operations
* enquiry levels for industrial and office space have remained high in the
second half of the year
* lettings are continuing at a strong rate both in the UK and on the
Continent
* `take-backs' (properties vacated due to lease expiries and tenant
insolvencies) remain in line with expectations
* modest rental growth is continuing in line with recent trends across most
of SEGRO's markets
* SEGRO's vacancy levels are broadly unchanged from the half year position:
11.5% UK (9% underlying) and 6% Continental Europe
* 71% of the 310,000 sq m of 2007 development completions are already let;
36% of the 394,000 sq m of construction in progress is let.
* disposals of trading properties and realisations from investments in
private equity funds are likely to contribute to strong underlying profits
in the second half of the year
* full year dividend expectations unchanged at c.23p per share (excluding
special dividend of 53p paid in August)
Balance Sheet Strength
* property acquisitions of c.£400m have been agreed in the second half of the
year, with 90% of the expenditure being in Continental Europe
* pro-forma net debt as at 30 September 2007, allowing for these acquisitions
and taxes payable on the sale of our US business, was approximately £1.8
billion with pro-forma gearing of approximately 51% (32% on a loan-to-value
basis)
* pro-forma cash and un-drawn debt facilities at 30 September 2007 were
approximately £875m, leaving the Group well placed to fund the development
pipeline and to take advantage of the good buying opportunities expected to
arise in the months ahead
* almost 90% of gross debt is at fixed or capped rates of interest and the
weighted average cost of debt is 5.7%. The average maturity of outstanding
debt is approximately 11.5 years, with no significant loans due for
repayment until 2010
CEO Ian Coull added:
"The UK investment market has seen very few transactions in the second half of
the year, with investor concerns about property valuations and the shortage of
credit available to leveraged buyers dramatically reducing the volume of
transactions. Whilst this will inevitably result in professional valuers
writing down the book values of properties, we believe it will create a number
of opportunities for well capitalised companies such as SEGRO.
In Continental Europe we have made a number of acquisitions in the second half,
taking advantage of the still attractive spread between investment yield and
the cost of borrowing. Nonetheless, we do not believe the Continent is immune
from the pressures being faced by the UK investment market and, accordingly, we
are being extremely careful in the selection of the opportunities we pursue,
each of which is appraised against rigorous acquisition criteria.
We have maintained momentum in our development programme, encouraged by the
letting success already achieved on projects completed in 2007 and those
currently under construction. However, in the current environment, we are
particularly mindful of the need to carefully monitor both the macro indicators
and local market conditions in determining the rate of development in each
market.
The sale of our US business earlier this year is looking ever more timely. The
recent agreement to `outsource' power generation on the Slough Trading Estate
and to sell our generation plant to Scottish & Southern marks another important
step in the refocusing of SEGRO into a specialised, pan-European provider of
Flexible Business Space.
We are in very sound financial shape with low gearing and a secure, long-term
income profile. Whilst we believe there will be excellent opportunities to
emerge from the current market conditions, we will continue to exercise strong
financial discipline as we pursue our strategy of growth across Europe."
Further details of recent transactions and operating performance are provided
in the appendix further below:
For further information please contact:
SEGRO Tel: + 44 1753 213409 David Sleath
SEGRO Tel: + 44 7775 788 628 Michael Waring
Maitland Tel: + 44 207 379 5151 Colin Browne/Peter Ogden
About SEGRO: SEGRO is the leading provider of Flexible Business Space in Europe.
Headquartered in the UK, SEGRO is listed on the London Stock Exchange and on
Euronext in Paris. The company is a UK Real Estate Investment Trust ("REIT")
with operations in ten countries (it completed the exit from its US business in
August 2007), serving a diversified customer base of over 1,600 customers
operating in a wide range of sectors, representing both small and large
businesses, from start ups to global corporations. With investment property
assets of £5.1 billion (including trading properties and development assets)
and around 3.9 million sq m of business space, SEGRO has an annual rental
income in excess of £200 million. www.segro.com
APPENDIX
Details of recent transactions and performance in the second half of 2007 so
far:
UK
Lettings
* Over 83,000 sq m of H2 lettings to the end of October, compared with
143,000 sq m in H1; overall lettings year to date are 65% above the
equivalent period last year.
* Over 30,000 sq m was let at Heywood, with occupiers including Eddie
Stobart, the Royal Mail Group and Character Options
* Additionally, two pre-lettings of data-centres have been agreed at the
Slough Trading Estate, one being a 20 year lease of 14,000 sq m which will
generate £1.8m rent pa after a 16 month rent free period and another for
just under 6,000 sq m on a rent of just over £0.7m pa, also over 20 years
Development
* 96,000 sq m of construction currently in progress, of which approximately
40% is already let.
* 85,000 sq m of completed projects so far in 2007, of which 66% is let.
* Construction starts for 2007 now expected to be approximately 90,000 sq m
Acquisitions
* 31,000 sq m site in Ashton Vale Bristol for £20.3m on a 7.1% net initial
yield. Occupiers include G4S (Securicor), Kone and Red Bull and takes
SEGRO's Bristol cluster - known as "Bristolworks" - to over 110,000 sq m.
This well located site provides SEGRO with asset management opportunities
and longer term redevelopment potential.
* 30,000 sq m built space in an overall site area of 12.5 acres (including
bare land), at Enfield - essentially a brownfield redevelopment opportunity
for £12m. An excellent location close to Junction 25 of the M25. Initially
on a sale and leaseback structure with the existing occupier and vendor,
Visteon, on a rent of £1.0m per annum rising to c£1.4m in years 4-5.
* 10,600 sq m logistics facility at Colnbrook, near Heathrow, let to DHL,
with 23 year unexpired. Acquired for £25.25m with annual rental income of £
1.2m, with a rent review due in September 2008. This was a special
opportunity to expand SEGRO's prime Heathrow cluster - generating initial
income plus medium term redevelopment scope for more than 14,000 sq m of
new warehousing.
CONTINENTAL EUROPE
Lettings
* Over 94,000 sq m of lettings in H2 2007, compared with 168,000 in H1.
* Highlights included:
+ Germany: over 32,000 sq m let including 10,000 sq m to Kuehne & Nagel
and 12,000 sq m to Meyer & Meyer
+ Hungary: the 13,000 sq m Vendel Park scheme outside Budapest is now 80%
let following lettings of 5,900 sq m to Eurogate and of 2,600 sq m to
Puma
+ Czech Republic: 7,500 sq m has been let at Tulipan Park near Prague
airport - to Kuehne & Nagel. Pre-lettings of 10,000 sq m have been
signed for the next phase of development.
+ Poland: 10,000 sq m has been let to Complex at Strykow and over 6,000
sq m to Intercars at Poznan.
+ Belgium: a 7,100 sq m pre-let has been signed with Cummins at Rumst
Development
* At the end of October, 73% of the 225,000 sq m construction completed in
2007 had been let
* 106,000 sq m of the 298,000 development under construction had been let
* Total development starts for 2007 now expected to be in the region of
375,000 sq m
Acquisitions
* The recently announced sale and leaseback agreement with DHL for €160m,
involving the acquisition of 210,000 sq m of warehouse buildings on 70ha of
land in France; net initial yield of 7.0% with immediate and longer term
development potential. This transaction reflects SEGRO's strategy of
selectively purchasing sites with development potential located at key
points on Europe's freight and logistics corridors.
* The acquisition of 6,800 sq m of buildings at Skypark - a logistics
orientated business park contiguous to Schiphol airport in Holland - at a
purchase cost of €10m on a net initial yield of 7.1%. An excellent location
in its own right, this fully let site creates synergies with our existing
property at the nearby De Hoek development and establishes occupier
relationships in this strategic location.
* The purchase of a 35 ha development land site in Poland at Nadarzyn to the
Southwest of Warsaw and of 38ha in Hungary at Ullo in close proximity to
Budapest Airport - for a total investment of €35m
* The purchase of a 25,000 sq m distribution warehouse, adjacent to SEGRO's
existing holdings in Poznan, Poland. The acquisition price of €18m reflects
a net initial yield of 6.75% with an unexpired lease term of 10 years. This
transaction helps to provide critical mass on top of our existing
successful developments (25,000 sq m phase one fully let, 22,500 sq
phase newly completed and already over 50% let), gives solid underlying
income and a diversification of lease end dates.
* The €19m acquisition of a development site from Stora Enso in an excellent
location south of Dusseldorf; with development starting in 2009, the site
will provide 80,000 sq m of modern light industrial space.
* Early in the second half of 2007 SEGRO also announced its first major move
into Italy with a site North East of Milan for €84.5m and a 7.4% yield.
This acquisition provided immediate income on the 49,000 sq m Alcatel
Lucent occupy but also with the potential for a further 50,000 sq m of
business park development
* Also announced early in the period was the acquisition of 50,000 sq m of
warehousing and light industrial space on 10 ha of land close to Lyon's
airport - at a cost of €42.5m and on a yield of up to 7.5% as the vacant
space is let up
Disposals
* disposals have been made of non-core assets acquired with the Karstadt and
Antalis portfolios; these were at locations in Switzerland, Finland and
Germany and all achieved an uplift on the acquisition price originally paid
by SEGRO