UK commercial property giant Segro increased its new leasing deals by 43% in the nine months to September thanks to growing demand for warehouse space from online retailers.
The group, which is the UK’s largest listed property company by market capitalisation, leased space that will generate £52m of rent during the period, up from £36.4m the year before, it said in a trading update.
It added that Amazon is poised to become the largest customer at Segro as the warehouse operator rides on the coat-tails of the irresistible rise in internet shopping and online deliveries.
In its upbeat assessment of trading during the third quarter, David Sleath, chief executive, said that the American online shopping company was likely to overtake DHL, the parcels delivery group, in terms of the amount of space it rents from Segro to store goods in transit.
“Three years ago Amazon was nowhere as a customer for us; now they’re the second largest and likely to become the largest,” Sleath said, adding that Fedex and UPS also were among its biggest users.
