Midlands-based Real Estate Investors has reduced its total debt to £39.1m with £18.9m of sales helping to push the total down.
The firm, run by Paul Bassi, said it had completed 20 disposals during 2024 that had helped reduce debt by £15.3m.
The disposals produced an aggregate uplift of 6.95%, pre-costs, against the 31 December 2023 year end book value.
REI said it had a number of other sales in the pipeline as it continues to target the private investor market and owner-occupier demand. The firm added that it also remained open to exploring a corporate transaction, including the potential sale of the entire portfolio.
Bassi said: “While the first six months of this year are likely to see a continuation of the trends and activity levels we observed in 2024, we are cautiously optimistic about the second half of 2025 as we expect momentum to build particularly if interest rates continue to gradually reduce and sentiment improves.”
He added: “This should pave the way for more favourable market conditions and investor optimism which would allow us to accelerate our disposals programme, repay debt more rapidly and commence our capital return to shareholders, all while continuing to pay a fully covered dividend.”
Bassi said REI also had a selection of larger market-ready assets which the company was holding back until such time that suitable investors return to the market, allowing the business to achieve stronger pricing and benefit from the rental income in the interim.
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