TIDMYEW
RNS Number : 6531J
Yew Grove REIT PLC
15 April 2020
Yew Grove REIT plc
(the "Company", the "Group" or "Yew Grove")
Trading and Covid-19 Update
Dividend Declaration
Yew Grove REIT plc, the AIM and Euronext Growth listed regional
Irish commercial property investor, today announces its trading
update and dividend for the quarter ended 31 March 2020.
Rental collection
Q1 2020 rental collection was robust; Q2 2020 rent, including
leases at the recently acquired Millennium Park properties being
invoiced for the first time, is being collected in line with
expectations and management currently expects that over 95% will be
paid on time. The Irish government, FDI and large corporates
account for 95.3% of the Group's contracted rental income, the
remaining 4.7% of the rent roll comes from SMEs, of which 0.54% is
exposed to non-food retail tenants.
Financing
As at 31 March 2020, the Group's net debt stood at EUR32.8
million. After capital commitments, the Group has undrawn loan
facilities of EUR8.7 million and cash on deposit of EUR7.5 million,
providing significant liquidity headroom totalling EUR16.2 million.
In addition, on a pro-forma basis the Group's portfolio (excluding
unfettered properties) would need to fall in value by around EUR46
million, or 37%, for the LTV covenants in the Group's borrowing
arrangements to come under risk of being breached. Similarly,
rental income on these assets would need to fall by 56% for the
interest coverage covenant to come under risk of being
breached.
Debt metrics
31 March 2020 Covenant
Facility Loan to Value 32% 50%
----------------- ---------
Facility Interest
coverage (forward) 6.96x 3.25x
----------------- ---------
Facility Interest
coverage (historical) 12.59x 3.25x
----------------- ---------
REIT Cost Cover 2.48x 1.60x
----------------- ---------
Debt Maturity December 2021
-----------------
Debt maturity with December 2022
extension
-----------------
Total facility size EUR49.1 million
-----------------
Undrawn facility EUR8.7 million
-----------------
Unfettered assets EUR11.98 million
-----------------
Dividend
On 14 April 2020, the Board of Directors approved the payment of
the Company's first quarterly interim dividend in an amount of 1.20
cents per ordinary share which will be paid (or CREST accounts
credited) on 6 May 2020 to shareholders who are on the share
register at the close of business on 24 April 2020, with a
corresponding ex-dividend date of 23 April 2020. The dividend will
comprise a Property Income Distribution ("PID") of 1.20 cents per
share. This dividend is covered by Q1 2020 EPRA earnings. Further
dividend payments are expected for the next three quarters of
2020.
Investment and development pipeline
Yew Grove has a substantial pipeline of potential acquisitions,
but none have reached the point of legal exchange. All acquisition
activity has now been paused until the Company has greater clarity
on the likely effect of the Covid-19 pandemic on our market.
Outlook
The economic effect of the Covid-19 crisis is still in its early
stages with much of Ireland in self-isolation and many office-based
occupiers working remotely. It is too early to say how the
developments over the next few months will play out in the Irish
commercial real estate market. At present the industrial sector,
especially that part involved in the med tech sector and the
pharmaceutical supply chain looks robust. In offices, given
Ireland's structural shortage of properties suitable for FDIs and
large corporates, especially in the markets served by Yew Grove,
the longer-term outlook remains much as it was and is expected to
be resilient provided the virus does not cause a deep and more
prolonged global downturn.
Jonathan Laredo, Chief Executive Officer, commented:
"Yew Grove was financially well positioned coming into this
crisis. The Company has a strong balance sheet and sufficient
liquidity to see it through and beyond the likely term of
government mandated quarantines. Our portfolio is over 89% let,
with the vast majority of our tenants either in businesses that are
insulated from, or well able to get through, the effects of
government actions to control the spread of contagion. Because of
that, our focus has been on working with tenants and occupiers to
keep their buildings safe, to understand the business stresses they
currently face and to try to ameliorate them where we are able. We
continue to monitor opportunities and will look to re-enter the
markets when it is sensible to do so.
"The crisis has increased unemployment and reduced income for a
large number of people while at the same time Irish charities that
support those facing hardship have seen their ability to raise
funds severely impacted. As one of the businesses which is still
functioning we have a social responsibility and I am pleased to say
that both the Company and members of the Yew Grove team are making
contributions to help support the charitable effort to alleviate
hardship."
For further information contact:
Yew Grove REIT plc +353 1 485 3950
Jonathan Laredo, Chief Executive Officer
----------------------------------
Charles Peach, Chief Financial Officer
----------------------------------
Michael Gibbons, Chief Investment Officer
----------------------------------
Goodbody Stockbrokers UC +353 1 667 0400
----------------------------------
Joint Broker & Euronext Growth Advisor
----------------------------------
David Kearney, John Flynn, Edel O'Reilly,
Ronan Bransfield
----------------------------------
Liberum Capital Limited
----------------------------------
Joint Broker & Nomad +44 20 3100 2000
----------------------------------
Richard Crawley, Jamie Richards, Jonathan
Wilkes-Green
----------------------------------
IFC Advisory +44 203 934 6630
----------------------------------
Financial PR yewgrovereit@investor-focus.co.uk
----------------------------------
Tim Metcalfe, Graham Herring
----------------------------------
Forward-looking Statements
Certain information contained in this announcement may
constitute forward looking information. This information relates to
future events or occurrences or the Company's future performance.
All information other than information of historical fact is
forward looking information. The use of any of the words
"anticipate", "plan", "continue", "estimate", "expect", "may",
"will", "project", "should", "believe", "predict" and "potential"
and similar expressions are intended to identify forward looking
information. This information involves known and unknown risks,
uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results or
events to differ materially from those anticipated in such
forward-looking information. No assurance can be given that this
information will prove to be correct and such forward looking
information included in this announcement should not be relied
upon. Forward-looking information speaks only as of the date of
this announcement. The forward-looking information included in this
announcement is expressly qualified by this cautionary statement
and is made as of the date of this announcement. The Company and
its Group does not undertake any obligation to publicly update or
revise any forward-looking information except as required by
applicable securities laws.
Notes to editors
Yew Grove REIT plc, quoted on the London Stock Exchange's AIM
market and on the Euronext Growth Market in Dublin, is an Irish
commercial real estate company invested in a diversified portfolio
of Irish commercial property. Yew Grove has a particular focus on
well-tenanted commercial real estate assets comprising of office
and industrial assets outside of Dublin's Central Business
District.
Yew Grove's highly experienced team has a proven track record in
commercial property investment and asset management in Ireland and
internationally and is focused on delivering results. Its
investment approach is strategic, not speculative, principally on
assets that are let, pre-let or to be let after refurbishment.
Shareholders are provided with stable, long-term income from a
diverse portfolio of commercial property comprising well-tenanted
real estate in strategic centres let to Irish government entities
and other state bodies, IDA Ireland supported and other FDI
companies, and larger corporates.
This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the
London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct
Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United
Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution
of this information may apply. For further information, please
contact rns@lseg.com or visit www.rns.com.
END
DIVGPUGACUPUPUC
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 15, 2020 02:00 ET (06:00 GMT)
Yew Grove Reit (LSE:YEW)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2024 to May 2024
Yew Grove Reit (LSE:YEW)
Historical Stock Chart
From May 2023 to May 2024