Trading Update

Tritax Big Box REIT plc

15 May 2023

 

TRADING UPDATE

Continued strategic delivery, development progress and investment activity

Tritax Big Box REIT plc ("the Company") announces an update on its performance for the year to date.

Colin Godfrey, CEO commented: "We continue to make positive progress delivering our strategy despite a more challenging economic backdrop. Occupational demand remains strong and we are successfully converting customer requirements into new lettings, adding a further £4.1 million to our annual contracted rent in the first four months of the calendar year from development.

"We have taken advantage of investment market conditions to acquire £58.5 million of high-quality urban logistics assets with significant near-term reversionary potential. These assets complement our existing portfolio, broaden our customer offer, and provide additional asset management opportunities to drive income growth.

"Our high-quality portfolio, strong balance sheet, accretive development pipeline and visibility on an attractive range of investment opportunities mean we remain well placed to continue generating long-term value for shareholders."   

Stabilising investment market and resilient occupational market

·      Economic and capital market uncertainty contributed to investment transactional activity remaining low in Q1 2023, however there are increasing signs of stabilisation in pricing.

·      Strong levels of occupational interest within the UK:

o  Occupational take up in Q1 2023 totalled 6.6 million sq ft, in line with average Q1 take-up for the past 5 years (6.8 million sq ft)

o  Prime headline rents have increased across all regions in Q1 2023, typically by 2-3%.

o  These continued positive market dynamics have been reflected across our development and investment portfolio

Development lettings adding a further £4.1 million to annual contracted rent

·      0.5 million sq ft of new development lettings secured adding £4.1 million to annual contracted rent

·      1.4 million sq ft of lease completions in the period adding £10.5 million to passing rent

·      0.9 million sq ft of new planning consents secured bringing total consented undeveloped land portfolio to 8.1 million sq ft

·      6-8% yield on cost guidance maintained with 2023 schemes expected to be delivered in the mid 6-7% range

Actively managing and recycling capital into higher returning opportunities

·      As previously announced, so far this year we have completed the disposal of £150 million of assets in line with their December 2022 valuations which reflected a blended net initial yield of 4.6%.

·      We are progressing additional sales in line with our aim to deliver a further £100-200 million of disposal in 2023.

·      We have acquired "Junction 6 Industrial Park", one of the UK's leading urban logistics estates of scale, for £58.5 million, complementing our investment portfolio, increasing our customer offer and providing attractive asset management opportunities to grow rental income, key benefits include:

o  Prime urban logistics location less than three miles from the centre of Birmingham

o  12 units totalling 384,000 sq ft ranging in size between 12,000 and 83,000 sq ft

o  2.5 years WAULT near term opportunity to capture rental reversion

o  c.£7.30 psf average passing rent versus c.£10.90 psf current estimated rental value

o  4.5% net initial yield, with significant near-term income growth opportunity reflected in 6.7% reversionary yield

·      We are making good progress against out 2023 ESG targets including:

o  Development of a target embedded carbon outcome in our development specification

o  Progressing 17MW of solar projects with customers

o  Roll out of our EV charging strategy across our portfolio

High-quality portfolio underpinning resilient income generation

·      Portfolio let to a diverse range of institutional grade occupiers on long dated leases

·      100% rent collection maintained.

·      12.4 years portfolio WAULT

Strong balance sheet with long term and low margin debt profile

·      Loan to value at end of Q1 2023 of 30.0%¹

·      Current weighted average cost of debt is 2.6%, of which 100% of drawn debt is either fixed or hedged

·      5.1 year average debt maturity with earliest refinancing event in December 2024

·      More than £600 million of available liquidity at end of Q1 2023

·      Significant headroom under all debt covenants

¹ Based on values as at 31 December 2022, adjusted for disposals and other capital expenditure during the first quarter.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:

Tritax Group Colin Godfrey Frankie Whitehead Tel: [phone] Ian Brown Kekst CNC Neil Maitland/Tom Climie Tel:  [phone] [phone] Email: [e-mail]

NOTES:

Tritax Big Box REIT plc (Tritax Big Box or the Company) is the largest listed investor in high-quality logistics warehouse assets and controls the largest logistics-focused land platform in the UK. Tritax Big Box is committed to delivering attractive and sustainable returns for shareholders by investing in and actively managing existing built investments and land suitable for logistics development. The Company focuses on well-located, modern logistics assets, typically let to institutional-grade tenants on long-term leases with upward-only rent reviews and geographic and tenant diversification throughout the UK. The Company seeks to exploit the significant opportunity provided by the imbalance between strong occupational demand and constrained supply of modern logistics real estate in the UK.

The Company is a real estate investment trust to which Part 12 of the UK Corporation Tax Act 2010 applies, is listed on the premium segment of the Official List of the UK Financial Conduct Authority (Ticker: BBOX) and is a constituent of the FTSE 250, FTSE EPRA/NAREIT and MSCI indices.

The Company's LEI is: 213800L6X88MIYPVR714

Further information on Tritax Big Box REIT is available at www.tritaxbigbox.co.uk

 

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