LondonMetric buys seven warehouses, sells off more non-core assets

(Sharecast News) - LondonMetric, the FTSE 250-listed real estate group, has announced a shake-up of its portfolio which includes £70m of warehouse acquisitions and £50m of non-core disposals. The company said on Monday that it has bought seven warehouses, comprising a regional logistics warehouse in Avonmouth let to Farmfoods, an urban logistics park in Wednesbury, and five trade warehouses across England let to building materials tenants.

These assets were purchased with a weighted average unexpired lease term of 15 years, acquired at a blended net initial yield (NIY) of 5.8%, rising to 6.1% over the next two years and 6.5% after five, with 91% of rent subject to open market reviews.

At the same time, LondonMetric has sold off ten assets acquired through the March takeover of LXi and one more purchased through the CT Property Trust takeover last August. They were sold at a blended NIY of 7.2% and in line with 31 March 2024 book values.

"We have been very clear on our desire to monetise some assets acquired from our corporate takeovers. We have now sold c£100m of LXi assets, with 13 of the 16 non core CTPT assets also sold at an average of 14% above our original underwrite values," said chief executive Andrew Jones.

"We have successfully reinvested these proceeds into high quality properties, in stronger sectors that will deliver accelerated income growth."