Shaftesbury has hailed “an excellent start” to its first year as a merged company.
Releasing its interim results this morning, the West End landlord – formed from a merger of Shaftesbury and CapCo – said gross profit for the period was just shy of £800m, with a total return of 7.4%.
The combined REIT defied those who warned that coupling the two companies would lead to a decline in value, by holding steady at £4.9bn.
Chief executive Ian Hawksworth said: “We have had an excellent start as a newly merged company, creating the leading central London mixed-use REIT. The team has come together to deliver strong performance with growth in annualised rent and ERV with a strong pipeline of demand for the second half. Despite the challenging macroeconomic backdrop, valuations are unchanged reflecting the resilience of our exceptional portfolio.”
Shaftesbury Capital completed 220 leasing transactions across its 2.9m sq ft estate in the first half of the year. New rents on average were 5% ahead of December 2022 ERV.
Trading conditions for the West End are looking more positive. Shaftesbury said customer sales were now tracking 15% ahead of 2019 levels.
Hawksworth said: “We are already seeing the benefits of the combined platform and with our strong balance sheet, we look forward with confidence on delivering further growth and returns in the years ahead.”
Shaftesbury has access to £157m of cash and £300m in undrawn facilities.
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