6 April 2022

Leasing Update and 'Customer First' Capital Markets Event

GPE today publishes its Leasing update for the quarter to 31 March 2022, and hosts a Capital Markets Event, focusing on the theme of 'Customer First'.

Toby Courtauld, Chief Executive, said: "Having delivered record volumes of leasing in the financial year just ended, we start the new year with healthy levels of demand for high quality spaces, particularly across our recently completed developments and our Flex offerings. To meet this demand, we have started our £1.1 billion development programme and are targeting to grow organically our flex offering to more than 600,000 sq ft. We will supplement this growth through acquisitions, as demonstrated by last week's purchase of 7/15 Gresse Street, W1. Encouragingly, we have also completed a number of retail lettings which suggest that London's retail market is turning the corner, with recovering levels of footfall boosting trade and retailer confidence.

We recognise that customers' needs and therefore the markets in which we operate are changing. We are well placed to respond. At our Capital Markets Event today we will set out how our market-leading 'Customer First' approach responds to these developing themes, shaping the spaces and services we provide and evolving our business for a future full of potential."

Strong leasing quarter delivers record leasing year

The leasing highlights in the quarter included:

·      18 new leases and renewals signed generating annual rent of £7.3 million (our share: £6.4 million), with market lettings on average 8.1% ahead of March 2021 ERV;

·      Four rent reviews were settled securing £1.2 million of annual rent (our share: £1.2 million) 6.9% ahead of the previous passing rent and 3.8% ahead of ERV;

·      Total space covered by new lettings, reviews and renewals was 114,400 sq ft; and

·      A further 25 lettings under offer (91,000 sq ft) which would deliver approximately £8.9 million p.a. in rent (our share: £8.1 million), with market lettings 4.7% ahead of September 2021 ERV, and a further c.£31 million in negotiation

The largest transaction in the period was at 1 Newman Street, W1, where we leased the fourth floor to a global investment firm for its new European headquarters. The investment firm has committed to a 10-year lease for 13,800 sq ft of prime office space and is due to move into its new workspace later this year. The third floor of the building is now also under offer.

More recently we completed three retail lettings, totalling 8,800 sq ft, at a combined rent of over £2.0 million per annum. Together, these lettings were on average 12% ahead of CBRE's September 2021 ERV, demonstrating the increasing confidence in the continued recovery of the central London retail market by international and domestic retailers.

In total, GPE has signed 520,900 sq ft of new lettings in the year to 31 March 2022, generating a combined annual rent of £38.5 million (GPE share: £32.0 million), with market lettings 9.8% ahead of March 2021 ERV, surpassing our previous record leasing high of £31.8 million in 2016.

We are also pleased to report that our on-going focus on customer satisfaction resulted in a Net Promoter Score of +27.8, significantly ahead of the UK office sector average of +2.0.

Capital Markets Event: 'Customer First'

Today we will be hosting a Capital Markets Event for analysts and institutional investors. The event will include a short property tour, presentations from a number of members of the senior management team and will focus on how our markets are evolving and how we are responding with a 'Customer First' approach, shaping the spaces and services we provide.

The slides from the presentation are attached to this release and are available now on our website at www.gpe.co.uk/investors/2022-capital-markets-event/. A recording of the presentations will be available at the same address following the event.  

To view the accompanying graphics please paste the below into your web browser 

http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/3955H_1-2022-4-5.pdf

Annual Results 2022

GPE will be announcing its full-year results on 19 May 2022.

For further information see www.gpe.co.uk or follow us on Twitter at @GPE_plc

LEI Number: 213800JMEDD2Q4N1MC42