8 February 2024
Alternative Income REIT
PLC
(the
"Company" or
"Group" or
"AIRE")
NET ASSET VALUE, DIVIDEND
DECLARATION AND PORTFOLIO VALUATION UPDATE
TO 31 DECEMBER
2023
Remain on track to deliver
our target annual dividend of at least 5.9 pence per share for the
financial year ending 30 June 2024
Resilient portfolio well
placed to continue to provide secure, index-linked income with the
potential for capital growth
The Board of Directors of
Alternative Income REIT PLC (ticker: AIRE), the owner of a diversified portfolio of UK
commercial property assets, predominantly let on long leases with
index-linked rent reviews, provides a
trading and business update and declares an interim dividend for the quarter ended
31 December 2023.
Simon Bennett, Non-Executive Chair of
Alternative Income REIT plc,
comments:
"The Board
is pleased to declare a second interim dividend of 1.425 pence per
share ('pps') for the last quarter, which is 102.6% covered by
earnings. This is in line with the Board's previously announced
annual dividend target of at least 5.9pps for the financial year
ending 30 June 2024, which remains subject to continued strong rent
collection.
The Board has considered many
attractive investment opportunities to reinvest the £7.5 million
proceeds from the disposal of its hotel in Glasgow.
The Group acquired the Virgin Active in
Ockley Road, Streatham for £5.1 million (net of acquisition costs)
in December 2023 and is now looking to reinvest the remaining
proceeds in another property during the current quarter.
At 31 December 2023, the Group held
19 properties valued at £103.3 million (30
September 2023: £99.6 million across 18 assets). On a like-for-like basis, the Company's property values
decreased by £1.4 million or 1.4% for the quarter ended 31 December
2023. The Group's portfolio is relatively
insulated from market fluctuations, benefiting from being 100% let,
together with 100% collection of rent due, 95.8% index-linked rent
review profile and low borrowing costs, which are fixed at a
weighted average interest rate of 3.19% until October 2025.
The sum of these factors continues to provide a secure and growing
rental income stream.
The Board remains confident that the Company is
well-positioned for the future
with a portfolio that
continues to deliver secure index-linked income and has the
potential for capital growth as the
property market recovers."
Overview of Key Financials
|
At 31
December
2023
(unaudited)
|
At 30
September
2023
(unaudited)
|
Change
|
Net Asset Value ("NAV")
|
£65.7 million
|
£67.3million
|
-2.4%
|
NAV per share
|
81.6p
|
83.6p
|
-2.4%
|
Share price per share
|
71.5p
|
59.6p
|
20.0%
|
Share price discount to
NAV
|
12.4%
|
28.7%
|
-16.3%
|
Investment property fair
value
(based on external
valuation)
|
£103.3 million C
|
£99.6 million
|
3.7% C
|
Loan to gross asset value ("GAV")
A B
|
37.5%
|
37.1%
|
|
|
Quarter ended 31 December
2023
(unaudited)
|
Quarter
ended
30 September
2023
(unaudited)
|
Change
|
EPRA earnings per share
A
|
1.5p
|
1.3p
|
15.4%
|
Adjusted earnings per share
A
|
1.5p
|
1.5p
|
-
|
Dividend cover
A
|
102.6%
|
104.9%
|
-2.3%
|
Total dividends per share
|
1.425p
|
1.425p
|
-
|
Dividend yield
(annualized)A
|
8.3%
|
9.9%
|
-1.6%
|
Earnings per share
|
-0.5p
|
1.3p
|
-140.0%
|
Share price total return
A
|
22.4%
|
-4.9%
|
|
NAV total return
A
|
-0.6%
|
1.6%
|
|
Annualised passing rent
|
£7.7 million
|
£7.1 million
|
7.9%
|
Ongoing charges
A (annualised)
|
1.5%
|
1.5%
|
-
|
A Considered to be an Alternative Performance
Measure.
B The loan facility at 31 December 2023 of £41.0 million (30
September 2023: £41.0 million) with Canada Life Investments,
matures on 20 October 2025 and has a weighted average interest cost
of 3.19%.
C At 31 December 2023, the Group held 19 properties valued
at £103.3 million. On a like-for-like basis,
the fair value of the 18 properties held at the
start and end of the quarter was £99.6.million and £98.2
million respectively, representing a £1.4 million or 1.4% decrease
in the Quarter.
Property Portfolio
The Board
has considered many attractive investment opportunities to reinvest
the proceeds from the disposal of its hotel in Glasgow. On 18
December 2023, the Group completed the acquisition of the Virgin
Active in Ockley Road, Streatham for £5.1 million (net of
acquisition costs). The Group is looking to reinvest the remaining
proceeds in another property during the quarter ending 31 March
2024.
At 31 December 2023, the Group held
19 properties valued at £103.3 million (30
September 2023: £99.6 million across 18 assets). On a like-for-like basis, the Company's property values
decreased by £1.4 million or 1.4% for the quarter ended 31 December
2023.
At 31 December 2023, the Net Initial
Yield on the Group's portfolio was 6.9% (30 September 2023: 6.7%)
and the Group's assets remained 100% let (30
September 2023: 100%). The weighted
average unexpired lease term at 31
December 2023 was 16.6 years to
the earlier of break and expiry (30
September 2023: 17.1 years) and 18.5 years
to expiry (30 September 2023: 19.2 years).
The property investment market was
subdued for much of 2023 with ongoing economic uncertainty making
investors cautious. Despite concerns over rising interest rates and
high levels of inflation, there are some positive signs for the
market with pockets of strong occupational demand, particularly in
the industrial and logistics sector and growing demand for
sustainable properties. The Group's portfolio is relatively
insulated from market fluctuations, benefiting from being 100% let,
with 100% collection of rent due and 95.8% index-linked rent review
profile which continues to provide a secure and growing rental
income stream.
Over the past year, excluding the
sale in Glasgow and acquisition in Streatham, the value of the
Group's portfolio has fallen by a total of £2.3 million or 2.2%.
AIRE continues to outperform relative to most other commercial real
estate companies, as demonstrated by CBRE who have reported a fall
in their Monthly (All-Property) Index of 3.9% and MSCI UK Monthly Data who
reported a fall of 5.5% over the same period.
The Group's contracted annualised
rent increased by 7.9% during the quarter to 31 December 2023.
Excluding the increase in rent following the Streatham purchase,
income grew 0.4% over the quarter due to index-linked rent reviews
in Brough and Solihull. 95.8% of leases within our portfolio are
index-linked, with 35.9% of this rental income reviewed annually.
The portfolio continues to be actively
managed, in particular with respect of ESG
initiatives and EPC improvements. During 2023, 11 EPC reviews were
completed following works and consultations with the occupiers, all
of which delivered improvements in ratings.
During the
quarter to 31 March 2024, 9% of the Group's income will be reviewed
with two annual and one five-yearly index-linked rent
reviews.
Dividend Declaration, Earnings Per Share and Dividend
Cover
The Board has previously announced a
dividend target of 5.9pps for the year ending 30 June 2024.
This is an increase of 3.5% on the previous year's dividend of
5.7pps. The Board is therefore pleased to declare
an interim quarterly dividend of 1.425pps for the quarter ended
31 December 2023.
This dividend will be distributed as Property Income Distribution
("PID") and will be paid on 1 March 2024 to shareholders on the
register on 16 February 2024. The ex-dividend date will be 15
February 2024.
It should be noted that the target
is subject to continuing levels of rent collection, as well as the
timely reinvestment of the Glasgow property proceeds.
The Adjusted EPS of
1.5pps remains stable over
the quarter (30 September 2023: 1.5pps). The dividend cover for the
quarter was 102.6%
(30 September 2023: 104.9%).
Net
Asset Value, Share Price and Share Price discount to
NAV
At 31
December 2023, the Group's unaudited NAV
was £65.7 million, 81.6pps (30
September 2023: £67.3 million, 83.6pps),
representing a 2.4%
decrease over the previous quarter.
When combined with the
1.425pps dividend paid in
the quarter, this produces an unaudited NAV total return for the
quarter of -0.6%
(30 September
2023: 1.6%).
Conversely the share price increased
substantially by 20.0% to 71.5pps and the Group's discount to NAV
remains one of the lowest in the sector.
The table below sets out the
movement in NAV during the quarter.
|
Pence per
share
|
£ million
|
NAV
at 30 September 2023
|
83.6
|
67.3
|
Valuation movement in property
portfolio
|
(2.0)
|
(1.6)
|
Income earned for the
period
|
2.4
|
1.9
|
Expenses for the period
|
(0.5)
|
(0.4)
|
Net finance costs for the
period
|
(0.5)
|
(0.3)
|
Interim dividend paid during the
quarter ended 30 September 2023
|
(1.4)
|
(1.2)
|
NAV
at 31 December 2023
|
81.6
|
65.7
|
The NAV attributable to the ordinary
shares has been calculated under International Financial Reporting
Standards as adopted by the United Kingdom and incorporates both
the Group's property portfolio individually valued on a 'Red Book'
basis at 31 December 2023 and net income for the quarter but does
not include a provision for the interim dividend declared today
(see above).
The income earned for the period
includes an accrual for the minimum contractual uplifts contained
in the index-linked leases. In the event that inflation is greater
than these minimum contractual uplifts, the actual income will be
greater than the income currently accrued.
Rent Collection
Rent collection remains resilient
with 100%
collection of rent due for
the December 2023
quarter. 90.5% of the portfolios rent
is payable quarterly in advance and
9.5% payable monthly in
advance.
ENQUIRIES
Alternative Income REIT PLC
|
|
Simon Bennett
- Chairman
|
via H/Advisors Maitland
below
|
|
|
M7
Real Estate Ltd
Richard Croft
Jane Blore
|
020 3657 5500
|
|
|
Panmure Gordon (UK) Limited
|
020 7886 2500
|
Alex Collins
|
|
Tom Scrivens
|
|
|
|
H/Advisors Maitland (Communications Advisor)
|
07747 113 930 / 020 7379
5151
|
James Benjamin
Rachel Cohen
|
aire-maitland@h-advisors.global
|
The Company's LEI is
213800MPBIJS12Q88F71.
Further information on Alternative
Income REIT PLC is available at www.alternativeincomereit.com1.
1 Neither the content of
the Company's website, nor the content on any website accessible
from hyperlinks on its website or any other website, is
incorporated into, or forms part of, this announcement nor, unless
previously published on a Regulatory Information Service, should
any such content be relied upon in reaching a decision as to
whether or not to acquire, continue to hold, or dispose of,
securities in the Company.
NOTES
Alternative Income REIT PLC
aims to generate a sustainable, secure and
attractive income return for shareholders from a diversified
portfolio of UK property investments, predominately in alternative
and specialist sectors. The majority of the assets in the Group's
portfolio are let on long leases which contain index linked rent
review provisions.
The Company's asset manager is M7
Real Estate Limited ("M7"). M7 is a leading specialist in the pan-European, regional, multi-tenanted real
estate market. It has over 215 employees in 14 countries and
territories. The team manages over 600 assets with a value of circa
€6.9 billion (at 30 September 2023).