FINANCE: Kennedy Wilson Europe Real Estate has announced an NAV of 991.4p a share in its maiden set of interim results.
The fund, which completed a £1bn London listing at £10 a share in February, has declared an interim dividend of 2p a share as it posts a £24.7m pretax profit.
KWERE said earnings per share were 37.6p.
As previously reported the business has effectively deployed more than £1bn of the IPO proceeds in eight acquisitions, comprising 74 direct real estate assets and two loan portfolios secured by 25 properties located across the UK and Ireland.
Its combined portfolio, which has a £1.1bn market value, delivers gross income of £75.4m and has a gross yield of 7.6%.
By value, 62% of the portfolio is in the UK, with the remaining 38% in Ireland, while by investment type, around 90% of the portfolio is in direct real estate, with the remaining 10% in loans.
Since the end of the period at 30 June the group has undertaken a further three acquisitions in Ireland for an aggregate consideration of £118.4m – comprising two direct real estate assets and one loan portfolio secured by 13 properties.
It has also completed a £127m debt financing secured against the Tiger and Artemis portfolios with GE Real Estate Loans.
The listed fund secured a five-year facility from the lender with the option to extend the term of the loan through two separate one year extensions.
It is secured against the Tiger and Artemis real estate portfolios, which the company acquired as seed assets in its IPO in February this year. The portfolios comprise 40 office, retail and industrial properties located across the UK.
The completion of this financing releases capital and improves the company’s liquidity position. It increases the company’s loan-to-value ratio from 17.3% at the end of the period to 25% with a weighted average maturity of 4.4 years.
KWERE chairperson, Charlotte Valeur, said: “The board believes that the company is on a sound operational and financial footing to progress its investment strategy and is well placed to enhance rental and capital growth through active asset management initiatives.
She added that the overall European market is characterised by improving market sentiment and that the company is well positioned to capitalise on the opportunities this presents.
Mary Ricks, president and chief executive of Kennedy Wilson Europe, said: “We have made excellent progress towards achieving the strategic goals we set out at the time of the IPO. In the short space of four months, we have built a high-quality, income-producing investment portfolio and we believe there is visible upside to come through our asset management programs.
“We continue to be highly active in our target markets and are looking at a strong pipeline of assets in the short to medium term.”
bridget.oconnell@estatesgazette.com
