Regional REIT readies raft of assets for sale

Regional REIT is continuing to offload assets as it works to bring down its loan-to-value ratio, with almost 60 properties now in the process of being sold. In its annual results for 2023, the company said it sold £25m of assets last year. Since the year-end it has completed a further eight disposals for a combined £13.4m, in line with book value. It now has 58 assets “at various stages of disposal” for a total £130m. Those include one disposal contracted for £405,000; 10 totalling £22m under offer and in legal due diligence; nine totalling £20m in negotiation; 24 totalling £42m on the market; and 14 potential disposals totalling £46m being prepared for the market. The REIT posted a like-for-like portfolio valuation decline of 9.3% during the year, outperforming a 17.4% decline for the MSCI rest of UK offices index. Net LTV was 55.1%, up from 49.5% at the end of December. The board is targeting 40%. Stephen Inglis, chief executive at asset manager London and Scottish Property Investment Management, described the year as “another active period for the company”.  He added: “Significant preparatory work has been undertaken to date in respect of both the debt and equity options for the refinancing of the £50m August 2024 retail bond. We look forward to providing an update in due course.”