Balanced Commercial Property sells Curzon Street office holding

(Sharecast News) - Balanced Commercial Property Trust announced the sale of its multi-let office holding at 17A Curzon Street, London W1 on Monday. The FTSE 250 company said the transaction would reduce its portfolio exposure to the office sector to 16% by capital value, based on valuations as of 31 March, down from 29.6% as of 30 June.

It said the 10,800 square foot office at Curzon Street underwent a phased refurbishment, achieving record rental rates and making it an ideal time to capitalise on the enhanced value.

An unconditional contract for the sale had been exchanged, with completion expected in early August.

The sale price was agreed at a 2.3% discount to the 31 March valuation.

Since December, BCPT had contracted seven office disposals, generating total sales proceeds of £129.52m at an average discount of 4.1% to the preceding valuations.

Post-completion, BCPT anticipated holding around £120m in cash.

The board said it did not foresee any further sales announcements in the near term.

"This latest disposal underlines not only the liquidity within the company's portfolio but our ability to deliver value-accretive asset management strategies through market cycles," said BCPT's fund manager Richard Kirby.

"The quality of the underlying assets within the portfolio has enabled us to dispose successfully of holdings across the office sector, including capital-heavy multi-let assets, the structurally challenged regional business park segment and the low-yielding Central London markets.

"Accordingly, we believe the portfolio is now better positioned to deliver shareholder value."

At 0904 BST, shares in Balanced Commercial Property Trust were down 0.05% at 83.86p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.