NewRiver is confident its tenant base is resilient despite the increased pressures on the retail sector.
In a trading update for the third quarter, the shopping centre and retail park specialist said it completed 180,100 sq ft of new lettings in Q3. Transactions were in-line with previous rents and 0.9% ahead of ERV.
However, it shows a decline from the full-year average so far of 2.7% ahead of ERV and 2.3% ahead of previous rent, and a dip from the total of 673,300 sq ft let over the three quarters.
Chief execuive Allan Lockhart said: “During the third quarter we once again delivered consistently resilient operating metrics across leasing, rent collection and occupancy.
“Our portfolio, focused on providing value for money on essential goods and services to customers, is a key strength of our business as evidenced by the strong Christmas trading performance of many of the leading retailers in our portfolio such as B&M, Sainsbury’s, M&S, JD Sports and Poundland.”
Lockhart said the stable performance reflected “the importance of a physical store network to successful retailers and that the UK consumer is perhaps more resilient than expected”.
In November 2022, NewRiver was appointed by M&G Real Estate to manage a retail portfolio including 16 retail parks and one shopping centre in the UK.
The REIT’s portfolio is worth £600m and covers 8m sq ft across the UK.
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