UPDATE: Schroder Real Estate Investment Trust will raise capital to fund acquisitions as it looks toward future growth.
The investment manager’s head of property Duncan Owen said the 52-strong fund had £25m of cash to spend but depending on the opportunities that arise could issue more shares.
This would likely be done through a tap issue which allows a company to issue up to 9.9% of its current share capital quickly and cheaply.
Owen said: “The feedback we have been getting from investors is that they want the trust to be bigger and with more liquidity in the shares.”
“We have flagged that we will consider growing the company but this will be in a disciplined way and we will raise money per transaction.”
Commenting on the fund’s interim results, he said the fund had outperformed the IPD by 1% over the six months, “which is quite a lot for six months”.
Looking at the longer-term he added that since 2004 it has outperformed the IPD by 1% per annum and was the strongest performer in its peer group.
The listed property investment trust reported a profit of £4.2m for the six months to the end of September, up from a loss of £10.3m at the end of March and a loss of £3.3m in the comparable period last year.
The closed-ended fund also continued to claw back net asset value with a marginal NAV rise from 45.1p in March to 45.4p over the six months.
The fund’s portfolio was valued at £263.44m, an increase from £258.6m in March 2013.
bridget.oconnell@estatesgazette.com
