Tritax Big Box valuations ahead of expectations at year-end

Tritax Big Box updated the market on its valuations on Thursday, reporting that its portfolio valuations at the end of 2020 were ahead of market expectations.

The FTSE 250 real estate investment trust said the independent valuation of its portfolio's investment and development assets as at 31 December indicated a like-for-like increase in value of about 8% since 30 June.

“This has been driven by the strength of the logistics real estate market, our active development and asset management activity, alongside the high-quality nature of our portfolio as demonstrated through consistently high levels of rent collection,” the Tritax board said in its statement.

As a result, it said it expected its 31 December EPRA net tangible assets per share to have increased materially since the half year, when it was 154.85p per share, and to exceed the upper end of current analysts' estimates.

“The second half of 2020 saw a significant increase in the value of prime, larger scale, UK logistics real estate assets let to high calibre occupiers on long leases,” the board said.

It added that the supply of such prime assets remained constrained, with occupier demand for larger-scale logistics buildings continuing to strengthen.

“When combined with a buoyant investment market, this is driving tighter pricing in transactions, accelerating yield compression and increasing valuations for prime assets both in the broader logistics real estate market and in our own high-quality investment and development portfolio.”

Tritax Big Box said it would release its full-year results for the 12 months ended 31 December on 10 March.

At 0934 GMT, shares in Tritax Big Box REIT were up 5.29% at 177.2p.