Custodian REIT PLC (LSE:CREI) announced it completed the disposal of a portfolio of seven properties for £32.6mln.
The agreed sale price is 19% above the March 2021 valuation, when the terms of the sale were set, and 10% above the June 2021 valuation.
The portfolio includes five industrial sites in Gateshead, Stockton-on-Tees, Warrington, Stone and Christchurch already unconditionally exchanged to sell, plus two further industrial properties in Aberdeen and Bedford.
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The current passing rent is £2mln and a net initial yield of 5.9%.
The properties were acquired either in the seed portfolio at IPO or at later acquisitions, the UK property investment company said.
"Investment demand and pricing for industrial assets are both at record levels, so we believe now is the best time to sell to capitalise on the current, favourable market dynamics to secure a significant profit,” said Richard Shepherd-Cross, managing director of Custodian Capital Limited (LSE:CAPD, FRA:C8D), the company's external fund manager.
"While the short-term prospects for each of the properties in the portfolio remain robust, over the medium term we consider them as non-core.”
"Due to a delayed completion we have already been able to re-deploy proceeds, whilst sustaining dividend cover, in higher quality assets with greater prospects for income and capital growth, better supporting the board's objective of increasing dividends in a sustainable way."