LondonMetric disposes of two UK retail parks for £55m

LondonMetric has sold Pierpoint Retail Park in Kings Lynn for £24m and Damolly Retail Park in Newry, Northern Ireland, for £30.7m.

The Tritax Property Income Fund has purchased the 74,000 sq. ft. Kings Lynn retail park, reflecting a net initial yield of 5.77%, which is in line with the March 2016 valuation. The property was bought in 2011 for £15.1m and has undergone complete refurbishment with six new lettings to Next, B&M, DFS, Tapi, Poundland and Greggs. Since purchase, the rental income has increased by 47% .

A local investor purchased the 165,000 sq. ft. Damolly Retail Park, reflecting a net initial yield of 7.4%, which is 3% below March 2016 book value. LondonMetric bought the retail park in 2010 and has undertaken numerous asset management initiatives with new lettings to Lidl, Pets at Home, Home Bargains and Costa.

Chief executive Andrew Jones said: "These sales represent the opportunity to monetise two of our larger retail park investments following an intense period of asset management activity.

"The investments have delivered positive returns over their period of ownership but it is now opportune to reinvest the monies into investment and development opportunities within our favoured logistics sectors where rental growth prospects look more attractive."