LondonMetric Property (LSE:LMP) told investors that net rental income rose more than 8% to approximately £240 million in the six months to 30 September, the London-listed real estate investment trust said in a trading update ahead of its half-year results on 24 November.
The UK REIT, which has an £8 billion portfolio spanning logistics, healthcare, convenience, entertainment and leisure assets, said the growth was helped by last year's acquisition of Urban Logistics REIT, high occupancy and strong rent review activity. Average uplifts from rent reviews reached 17% in the period, taking annualised like-for-like income growth to 5.8%, with six-month like-for-like growth at 2.9%.
Rent collection stood at 99.3%, the weighted average unexpired lease term (WAULT) exceeded 16 years and occupancy reached 97.4%, despite what the company described as a high vacancy rate inherited through its recent takeover of Picton Property Income.
The board raised the first-quarter dividend by 3.3% to 3.15p and expects to declare the same for the second quarter, keeping it on track for a twelfth consecutive year of dividend growth.
Based on analysts' consensus dividend-per-share forecast of 12.8p for the 2027 financial year, LondonMetric said it currently offers a prospective, fully covered yield of 7.1%.
On the investment side, LondonMetric sold £185 million of assets across 36 properties during the period at a blended net initial yield of 6.6%, in line with book values as at 31 March, taking total disposals of former LXi and Urban Logistics REIT assets to £563 million.
It has also exchanged contracts on the sale of its first office asset acquired through the Picton takeover.
Read more about Londonmetric Property
- 03/09/26LondonMetric sells two Ramsay hospitals in £105m disposal round
- 10/07/26LondonMetric and Schroder lift Picton takeover proposal with enhanced earnings accretion
- 23/06/26LondonMetric confirms post-acquisition intentions for Urban Logistics REIT
Acquisitions totalled £424 million, dominated by £307 million of assets picked up through the Picton deal, 83% of which were logistics warehouses, alongside £117 million of direct property purchases at a 6.5% net initial yield, including a £31 million Waitrose/John Lewis store in Horsham let for a further 15 years.
The portfolio's annual net contracted rent rose to £452 million from £432 million at the start of the period, with asset management initiatives adding £11.8 million of annualised rent across 179 lease events.
"Despite elevated swap rates and reduced liquidity, we have continued to execute excellent disposals and reinvestments," said chief executive Andrew Jones, adding that the portfolio's "alignment to the winning sectors has once again delivered strong operational performance with rental income continuing to flow and grow to record levels."