First Property Group updated the market on leasing progress at its office building in Gdynia, Poland, on Monday.
The AIM-traded company said it had successfully leased an additional 512 square metres, accounting for 3.7% of the total office space, to freight company Alfa Forwarding.
Rent payments from the new tenant were expected to commence around 1 April next year.
The board said the new lease deal was projected to reduce the building’s net operating loss to around €55,000 annually.
Despite the positive leasing progress, a significant portion of office space in the building, totalling 9,980 square metres or 72%, remained for lease.
First Property said it was actively engaged in discussions with four potential tenants, negotiating leases that could cover 1,265 square metres of the available space.
Once the building was fully occupied, it was expected to yield an annual net operating income of about €2.1m.
“The building, which spans some 13,900 square metres of net internal area, is located at 21 ul. Podolska in prime central Gdynia – Poland’s second largest seaport after Gdansk,” the First Property board said in its statement.
“The Port of Gdynia has benefitted from considerable investment in recent years and is currently being enlarged further to enable it to handle Baltimax vessels, with corresponding investment in its road and rail infrastructure.”
Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.
UK Commercial Property REIT Limited
Legal Entity Identifier: 213800JN4FQ1A9G8EU25
Notification and public disclosure of transactions by persons discharging managerial responsibilities and persons closely associated with them
1
Details of the person discharging managerial responsibilities/person closely associated
a)
Name
Mr Peter Pereira Gray
2
Reason for the notification
a)
Position/status
A Non-Executive Director and PDMR of UK Commercial Property REIT Limited
b)
Initial notification/ Amendment
INITIAL NOTIFICATION
3
Details of the issuer, emission allowance market participant, auction platform, auctioneer or auction monitor
a)
Name
UK COMMERCIAL PROPERTY REIT LIMITED
b)
LEI
213800JN4FQ1A9G8EU25
4
Details of the transaction(s): section to be repeated for (i) each type of instrument; (ii) each type of transaction; (iii) each date; and (iv) each place where transactions have been conducted
a)
Description of the financial instrument, type of instrument
Identification code
ORDINARY 25P SHARES
GB00B19Z2J52
b)
Nature of the transaction
ACQUISITION OF SHARES
c)
Price(s) and volume(s)
Price(s)
Volume(s)
£0.53934300
1,280
d)
Aggregated information
— Aggregated volume
— Price
N/a – single transaction
N/a – single transaction
e)
Date of the transaction
2023-09-12
f)
Place of the transaction
LONDON STOCK EXCHANGE,MAIN MARKET, XLON
Enquiries
Company Secretary
Northern Trust International Fund Administration Services (Guernsey) Limited
PO Box 255, Trafalgar Court
Les Banques
St Peter Port, Guernsey
GY1 3QL
+44 (0)1481 745001
House prices fell across the UK last month, a closely-watched survey showed on Thursday, as higher borrowing costs and the weakened economic outlook weighed on sentiment.
According to the latest residential survey from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, a net balance of -25% of participants reported a fall in house prices during November, compared to -2% in October.
It is the lowest reading since May 2020, when the UK was in lockdown early in the pandemic, and well below consensus, for -10%. Participants also reported falls across the UK, with the exception of Scotland and Northern Ireland only.
Nor are prices expected to pick up in the coming year, with a net balance of -62% forecasting further falls.
Buyer demand also fell, with a net balance of -38%, although it was an improvement on October’s balance of -53%.
Agreed sales were lower, with a net balance of -35%, the second month in a row that respondents in every region reported a decline. It was, however, marginally stronger that October’s balance of -45%.
Simon Rubinsohn, chief economist at Rics, said: “The overall tone of the latest survey is understandably more downbeat than previously, reflecting the uncertain macro environment and the higher cost of mortgage finance.”
Samuel Tombs, chief UK economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, said: “Higher mortgage rates and a growing belief that house prices will fall are prompting potential buyers to hold back.
“The new buyer enquiries balance continue to signal falling demand, despite rising to -38 from -53 in October. Indeed, the balance still was in the bottom 6% of all past readings since 1999, demonstrating the continued severity of the downturn.
“House prices would recovery until the Monetary Policy Committee can be sure that CPI inflation is back on course to hit the 2% target, enabling it to cut interest rates again. We doubt that point will be reached until late 2023 or early 2024.”
The residential survey found tenant demand continued to rise last month, with a net balance of -35% of respondents reporting an increase. But a net balance of -27% reported a decline in landlord instructions, as the number of rental properties becoming available faltered.
Business recovery, financial advisory and property consultancy Begbies Traynor reported a “strong” first-half financial performance in an update on Thursday, with revenue expected to have increased 12% to £58.5m.
The AIM-traded firm said adjusted profit before tax was set to have risen 13% year-on-year in the six months ended 31 October, to £9m.
Net debt stood at £2.4m at period end, swinging from net cash of £1.2m a year prior, with the board describing a “robust” operating cash flow net of dividend payments, and acquisition and deferred consideration payments of £7.2m in the six months.
The directors said they were “confident” of delivering market expectations for the full year, extending its strong financial track record of growth.
“We have performed well in the first half with double digit growth and strong performances in both divisions,” said executive chairman Ric Traynor.
“As corporate financial distress levels rise in a deteriorating economic environment, we anticipate continued momentum in activity levels in insolvency and restructuring and we are better placed than ever to take advantage of this with our expanded presence and enhanced service offering.
“We remain confident of delivering market expectations for the full year thereby extending our strong financial track record of growth.”
Begbies Traynor said it would report its half-year results for the six months ended 31 October on 13 December.
At 1257 GMT, shares in Begbies Traynor Group were down 1.82% at 134.5p.
Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.