PRESS RELEASE
23
May 2024
AGM Trading
Update
Shaftesbury Capital PLC ("Shaftesbury
Capital") publishes a trading update ahead of the Company's Annual
General Meeting to be held at 11:30am (BST) today.
Ian Hawksworth, Chief Executive,
commented:
"It's been a positive start to the year, our West End estates
are busy and vibrant with high footfall, customer sales growth and
increasing levels of international tourism. There is continued
strong leasing demand across all uses with 147 transactions
completed in the period, at rents on average 7 per cent ahead of
December 2023 ERV and an excellent leasing pipeline, reflecting the
appeal of our exceptional portfolio.
We
have completed £213 million of asset sales since merger at a
premium to valuation, reinvesting over £80 million in target
acquisitions. Backed by our strong balance sheet and talented team,
Shaftesbury Capital is well-positioned to deliver growth in line
with our medium-term targets as the leading central London
mixed-use REIT."
Highlights
· Strong leasing activity across all uses; 147 leasing
transactions, representing £22.4 million of new contracted rent, 7
per cent ahead of December 2023 ERV and 16 per cent ahead of
previous passing rents
· Low
vacancy; 2.5 per cent of ERV available to let (Dec 2023: 2.1 per
cent)
· 23
new brands introduced including PANGAIA, Alo, ELEMIS, ERGON House
and The Little Violet Door
· £212.6 million of asset disposals completed since merger;
£82.9 million reinvested in target acquisitions
· Over
£500 million of liquidity (Dec 2023: £486 million) and EPRA LTV of
30 per cent (Dec 2023: 31 per cent)
· During the period, Shaftesbury Capital published its first
EPRA Sustainability Data Report
Excellent leasing momentum
There is excellent leasing momentum
and low vacancy across all uses. 23 new brands and concepts were
introduced during the period, reflecting the appeal and vibrancy of
our West End portfolio. Customer sales continue to grow reflecting
the positive trends seen in 2023 boosted by increasing levels of
international visitors. Available to let space is 2.5 per cent of
ERV, which when combined with 2.9 per cent under offer results in
total EPRA vacancy of 5.4 per cent.
Retail and hospitality leasing
demand has been strong across the portfolio. Luxury makeup and
skincare concept Charlotte Tilbury is upsizing significantly to a
new flagship store on the Piazza following the success of its James
Street store. There have been a number of significant signings for
Seven Dials including US athleisure brand Alo at the entrance of
Neal Street offering contemporary yoga clothing. British wellness
brand ELEMIS will open its debut London store joining recent
openings Odd Muse and Missoma on Monmouth Street. Axel Arigato is
currently fitting out its flagship store on Earlham Street, marking
its second Shaftesbury Capital location. Greek boutique hotel,
ERGON House is set to open in a newly refurbished heritage listed
building, anchoring King Street next year.
There have been several new
additions across Carnaby | Soho, including new hospitality signings
from Goldies which will offer wood-fired cookery on the ground
floor of Kingly Court, The Counter and The Little Violet Door on
Kingly Street joining hospitality concept Two Floors which has
expanded its presence following the refurbishment of 2-4 Kingly
Street. Carnaby Street welcomes global lifestyle brand PANGAIA, its
first UK standalone store. This signing highlights our approach to
active curation, seeking out challenger and high growth brands.
SanHao will be debuting a new restaurant within Chinatown, offering
hand-pulled noodles and soups.
The office portfolio continues to
perform well, regularly achieving rents of more than £100 per
square foot. Our larger schemes at 68-72 Broadwick and The Floral
are now let or under offer. Our residential offer continues to
appeal to a broad range of occupiers, delivering rental growth and
limited vacancy with 6 units available.
The table below sets out a summary
of leasing transactions from 1 January 2024 to 3 May
2024:
Use
|
Number of
transactions
|
New contracted
rent
(£m)
|
%
above
Dec 23
ERV
|
%
above
previous
passing
|
Retail
|
30
|
8.0
|
4
|
17
|
Hospitality &
leisure
|
16
|
3.5
|
7
|
19
|
Offices
|
23
|
8.0
|
12
|
19
|
Residential
|
78
|
2.9
|
2
|
7
|
Total
|
147
|
22.4
|
7
|
16
|
In addition, 24 commercial rent
reviews have been concluded, totalling £8.3 million, 4 per cent
ahead of previous passing rents.
Active capital recycling and robust financial
profile
ERV of space under refurbishment is
£15.9 million across 179,000 square feet, representing 6.8 per cent
of portfolio ERV (Dec 2023: 5.8 per cent), of which £4.8 million
has been pre-let.
Following £124.4 million of sales
this year, including the majority of the Fitzrovia portfolio, total
sales proceeds of £212.6 million (before costs) have been generated
since merger, 3 per cent overall
ahead of valuation. These proceeds have
been reinvested in target assets and used
to repay borrowings. In March 2024, we
completed the acquisition of the freehold interests in 25-31 James
Street, Covent Garden for £75.1 million (before costs). This
acquisition presents asset management and rental growth
opportunities as well as complementing our existing ownership on
James Street, a prime retail street and key gateway into the Covent
Garden Piazza. In addition, we have acquired two assets on
Broadwick Street and Marshall Street for £7.8 million (before
costs).
Shaftesbury Capital has access to
over £500 million of liquidity from undrawn bank facilities and
cash. Group net debt was £1.45 billion (Dec 2023: £1.50 billion),
representing an EPRA loan-to-value ratio of 30 per cent
on a pro forma basis (Dec
23: 31 per cent).
The current weighted average cash
cost of drawn debt is approximately 4 per cent (Dec 2023: 4.2 per
cent) which reduces to an effective cash cost of 3.4 per cent (Dec
2023: 3.4 per cent) taking into account interest income on cash
deposits and the benefit of interest rate hedging. All of the
Group's drawn debt is at fixed rates or currently has interest rate
protection in place until the end of 2025.
This announcement includes unaudited
financial information in relation to the period from 1 January 2024
to 3
May 2024.
Appendix 1
Under offer
Use
|
% of portfolio
ERV
|
ERV
(£m)
|
Area
('000 sq.
ft.)
|
Retail
|
0.8
|
1.8
|
14.3
|
Hospitality &
leisure
|
1.0
|
2.2
|
23.8
|
Offices
|
1.0
|
2.1
|
25.3
|
Residential
|
0.1
|
0.1
|
2.2
|
Total
|
2.9
|
6.2
|
65.6
|
Available-to-let space
Use
|
% of portfolio
ERV
|
ERV
(£m)
|
Area
('000 sq.
ft.)
|
Retail
|
0.8
|
1.8
|
23.6
|
Hospitality &
leisure
|
0.7
|
1.5
|
37.9
|
Offices
|
0.9
|
2.0
|
29.2
|
Residential
|
0.1
|
0.2
|
3.5
|
Total
|
2.5
|
5.5
|
94.2
|
1. Includes 12
units let on a temporary basis (ERV: £1.2 million). (Dec 2023:
£2.1 million)
Under refurbishment
Use
|
% of portfolio
ERV
|
ERV
(£m)
|
Area
('000 sq.
ft.)
|
Retail
|
1.3
|
3.0
|
23.1
|
Hospitality &
leisure
|
1.1
|
2.6
|
28.2
|
Offices
|
4.0
|
9.3
|
108.8
|
Residential
|
0.4
|
1.0
|
19.1
|
Total
|
6.8
|
15.9
|
179.2
|
Enquiries:
Shaftesbury Capital PLC
|
|
+44 (0)20 3214 9150
|
Ian Hawksworth
|
Chief Executive
|
|
Situl Jobanputra
|
Chief Financial Officer
|
|
Sarah Corbett
|
Director of Commercial Finance and
Investor Relations
|
|
Media enquiries:
UK: Hudson Sandler
UK: RMS Partners
|
Michael Sandler
Simon Courtenay
|
+44 (0)20 7796 4133
+44 (0)20
3735 6551
|
SA: Instinctif
|
Frederic Cornet
|
+27 (0)11 447 3030
|
About Shaftesbury Capital
Shaftesbury Capital PLC ("Shaftesbury
Capital") is the leading central London mixed-use REIT and is a
constituent of the FTSE-250 Index. Our property portfolio, valued
at £4.75 billion, extends to 2.9 million square feet of lettable
space across the most vibrant areas of London's West End. With a
diverse mix of shops, restaurants, cafés, bars, residential and
offices, our destinations include the high footfall, thriving
neighbourhoods of Covent Garden, Carnaby, Soho and Chinatown. Our
properties are close to the main West End Underground stations and
transport hubs for the Elizabeth Line. Shaftesbury Capital shares
are listed on the London Stock Exchange ("LSE") (primary) and the
Johannesburg Stock Exchange ("JSE") (secondary) and the A2X
(secondary).
Our
purpose
Investing to create thriving
destinations in London's West End where people enjoy visiting,
working, and living.
Our
values
We have a set of values that are
fundamental to our behaviour, decision making and the delivery both
of our purpose and strategy: Act with integrity; Take a creative
approach; Listen and collaborate; Take a responsible, long-term
view; and Make a difference.
Forward-looking statements
This press release includes
statements that are forward-looking in nature. Forward-looking
statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other
factors which may cause the actual results, performance or
achievements of the Company to be materially different from any
future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by
such forward-looking statements. Any information contained in this
press release on the price at which shares or other securities in
the Company have been bought or sold in the past, or on the yield
on such shares or other securities, should not be relied upon as a
guide to future performance.