Real Estate Investors has reported a stable set of H1 2020 results, despite some tenants using government restrictions to delay payment of rent.
For the six months ending 30 June 2020, the Midlands-focused REIT’s revenue nudged up to £8.2m from £8.1m in the same period last year.
The company made a loss before tax of £3.8m due to a 3% reduction in valuations, equating to £7.3m, and hedge costs of £700,000. Retail assets saw larger reductions, with the value of the REIT’s Crewe asset dropping by £1.3m and its Walsall and Tunstall assets falling by £800,000 each.
Like-for-like rental income dipped by 3% to £16.5m from £17m the year before. Rent collection for Q2 stands at 90.7%, and Q3 stands at 86.9%.
The REIT claimed there were a number of established tenants who “have the ability to pay but are delaying doing so” by using the restrictions imposed by the government on the ability of landlords to recover rent.
The company said this unpaid rent would “be pursued at the appropriate time”.
No acquisitions were made during H1 2020, as the REIT said it had “not been prepared to transact until vendor’s expectations of value becomes more realistic”.
Chief executive Paul Bassi said: “Against extremely challenging circumstances, our business model has proved itself to be resilient as shown in our trading performance delivering increases to both revenues and underlying profit before tax. We have worked closely with our tenants throughout this very unusual period and, where needed, we have agreed a way forward that is mutually beneficial.”
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