Green Reit eyes more warehouses as profits jump
Publicly-quoted property investment fund Green Reit has said it views logistics and warehousing premises as being one of its main growth prospects in the future, after reporting an 11% jump in profit for a year which saw it focus more on office and warehouse investment and less on retail.
The company generated an after-tax profit of €144.2m for the 12 months to the end of June, with earnings per share up by 10% at 20.8c and rental income jumping by 12.4% to just under €68m. It said its development pipeline is currently valued at €600m.
The recent €147.7m sale of the Westend Retail Park, near Blanchardstown, brought Green Reit’s exposure to retail-related property down to less than 1% of its overall portfolio.
Logistics-related property now makes up around 8% of its portfolio value, with that set to jump to 20% when the company’s Horizon Logistics Park at Dublin Airport is fully developed. “We have further re-weighted the portfolio towards our key sectors of offices and logistics, through effective capital recycling,” said chairman Gary Kennedy.
“The past 12 months has been great for us on all fronts, particularly our development success across our major office projects and our profitable capital recycling programme from the retail sector into logistics, where we believe there are strong growth prospects,” said CEO Pat Gunne.
“The Irish property market remains well-supported by our growth economy, our expanding employment base and a diverse international investor set which continues to find our market attractive, underpinning our positive outlook,” he said.
The company has proposed a full-year dividend of 5.3c per share, 6% up on the previous year.
