31 March 2020
REGIONAL REIT Limited
("Regional REIT", the "Group" or the "Company")
TRADING UPDATE & DIVIDEND CONFIRMATION
Regional REIT (LSE: RGL), the regional real estate investment specialist focused on building a diverse portfolio of income producing regional UK core and core plus office and industrial property assets, today provides the following trading update and confirms that its dividend for Q4 2019 of 2.55 pence per share, declared on 27 February 2020, will be paid to shareholders on the 9 April 2020.
Trading Update
As at 31 December 2019, the Group had a highly diversified portfolio of 160 properties with 904 tenants, which include essential services ranging from the NHS, ambulance service, power utilities, manufacturing to food and logistic related tenants and other government departments.
Q1'20 rent collected to date is only 139bps reduced from our position as at the same date in Q1'19. Additionally, a proportion of tenants settle their rental invoice via their scheduled monthly payment run on either 31 March or 1 April, hence we expect the monthly rental collection to increase in due course.
The granular asset management approach employed by the highly experienced and adaptable property management team of the Asset Manager, has navigated property management through previous economic downturns, and it is this approach which is proving invaluable in supporting our tenants through this unprecedented period.
Corporate Update
Regional REIT has a strong and defensive balance sheet, which has been further enhanced in the short-term by drawing down the £30.7m of available borrowing headroom on 26 March 2020, from the Santander and Royal Bank of Scotland facilities, ensuring ample liquidity.
As at 30 March 2020, the Company had:
· Cash c.£68.8m*
· LTV c.39%**
Confirmation of the Dividend
The Company confirms its intention to pay its 2.55 pence per share Q4 2019 dividend on 9 April 2020.
*Pre Q4'19 dividend payment of c. £11.0m.
**Gross property assets based upon 31 December 2019 Cushman & Wakefield valuation.
Stephen Inglis, CEO of London & Scottish Property Investment Management, the Asset Manager of Regional REIT commented:
"We live in very uncertain times. However, the diversity of our property assets and our income streams, together with our singularly focussed, highly experienced and adaptable management team will see us weather the current COVID-19 disruption.
Our historically close relationships with our tenants have been an invaluable partnership during the recent events, and our income collection to date and further income to be collected over the next few days, further underpins our view that our collaborative and pragmatic approach works well both in good and turbulent times. We expect to have greater visibility on the extent of the disruption to our operations in due course.
With great thanks to my team, tenants, and all our stakeholders, for their ongoing efforts, I am delighted to confirm our quarterly dividend will be distributed to our shareholders on the 9 April 2020 as usual."
Forthcoming Events
Further to the joint statement by the Financial Conduct Authority, Financial Reporting Council, and Prudential Regulation Authority on 26 March 2020, ending the requested moratorium on the publication of results, the Company will publish its audited 2019 financial results on 9 April 2020, subject to any further guidance from the regulators.
A meeting for analysts will be held via a conference call facility at 9.30am (London time, BST) on Thursday, 9 April 2020. If you would like the conference call details please contact Henry Wilson on +44 (0) 207 466 5000 or [email protected].
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Enquiries:
Regional REIT Limited |
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Toscafund Asset Management |
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7845 6100 |
Investment Manager to the Group |
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Adam Dickinson, Investor Relations, Regional REIT Limited |
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London & Scottish Property Investment Management |
Tel: +44 (0) 141 248 4155 |
Asset Manager to the Group |
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Stephen Inglis |
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Buchanan Communications |
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7466 5000 |
Financial PR |
[email protected] |
Charles Ryland / Victoria Hayns / Henry Wilson |
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About Regional REIT
Regional REIT Limited ("Regional REIT" or the "Company") and its subsidiaries (the "Group") is a United Kingdom ("UK") based real estate investment trust that launched in November 2015. It is managed by London & Scottish Property Investment Management Limited, the Asset Manager, and Toscafund Asset Management LLP, the Investment Manager.
Regional REIT's commercial property portfolio is comprised wholly of income producing UK assets and comprises, predominantly, offices and industrial units located in the regional centres outside of the M25 motorway. The portfolio is highly diversified, with 160 properties, 904 tenants as at 31 December 2019, with a valuation of £787.9m.
Regional REIT pursues its investment objective by investing in, actively managing and disposing of regional core and core plus property assets. It aims to deliver an attractive total return to its Shareholders, targeting greater than 10% per annum, with a strong focus on income supported by additional capital growth prospects.
The Company's shares were admitted to the Official List of the UK's Financial Conduct Authority and to trading on the London Stock Exchange on 6 November 2015. For more information, please visit the Group's website at www.regionalreit.com.
Cautionary Statement
This document has been prepared solely to provide additional information to Shareholders to assess the Group's performance in relation to its operations and growth potential. The document should not be relied upon by any other party or for any other reason. Any forward looking statements made in this document are done so by the Directors in good faith based on the information available to them up to the time of their approval of this document. However, such statements should be treated with caution due to the inherent uncertainties, including both economic and business risk factors, underlying any such forward-looking information.
ESMA Legal Entity Identifier ("LEI"): (549300D8G4NKLRIKBX73)
