The world’s most practically-named REIT has released a trading update for the fourth quarter of its 2022 financial year, which covers the January – March period.

The fund experienced a record quarter for deal volumes i.e. leasing transactions. This means that demand remains strong for multi-let industrial space in the UK. 53% of completed leases were structured as the REIT’s short-form digital “Smart Leases” which is encouraging for the platform. Driving leasing enquiries through the company website means that the company is engaging directly with tenants rather than working through third party agents or portals.

Importantly, average rent increased 22% for the quarter, which is a number that office and even retail funds can only dream of. Uplift was as high as 34% on new lettings! This is the sixth quarter where average uplifts on new lettings was over 20%.

These uplifts only apply to renewed and new leases, of course. Looking across the entire portfolio, like-for-like rent increased by 1.5% during the quarter and met the goal of 4% to 5% growth per annum.

The average lease term granted increased from 4.2 years to 4.9 years, with the average rent-free incentive up from 1 month to 1.2 months.

The fund executed GBP21 million of acquisitions in this quarter and has a strong pipeline of opportunities. The acquisitions are being executed below replacement cost.

After the end of the quarter, a further deal of GBP3.1 million was executed on a net initial yield of 5.2%. A further two industrial estates are under offer with a combined value of GBP7.2 million.

The loan to value ratio at the end of March was 31%.

The share price has fallen 8.6% this year and is 10.5% higher over the past 12 months.