Great Portland Estates reports record leasing, confident on outlook

Great Portland Estates announced record leasing for its financial year-to-date and sounded a confident note on the outlook.

Since the start of the year on 1 April 2021, the property developer said that it had signed 460,900 sq. ft of new lettings for a combined annual rent of £32.5m, of which it had a share of £26.4m.

Market lettings meanwhile were 9.8% ahead of its March 2021 estimated rental value, besting its previous record of £31.8m in 2016.

"Absent a resurgence of the pandemic, our confidence is building for the remainder of 2022, as we expect the combination of economic growth, a return to normal trading conditions and central London's magnetic appeal to be positive for our markets," the company's chief executive officer, Toby Courtauld said.

The company also reported continued strong demand for its Grade A and Flex office products, that it remained on track to deliver 50 Finsbury Square to Inmarsat later in 2022 and that preparations for development of 2 Aldenmanbury Square EC2 were advancing.

Furthermore, rent collection for the December quarter was in line with the prior three-month stretch and the maturity date of its £400m of ESG-linked revolving credit facility had been extended by 12 months to January 2027.