Tritax Big Box REIT – Final Results

TRITAX BIG BOX REIT PLC 

Results for the 12 months ended 31 December 2021

Outstanding performance, continued delivery and accelerating development programme

Tritax Big Box REIT plc (the Group) reports its results for the 12 months to 31 December 2021.

Strong income and capital growth delivering record total accounting returns

• Adjusted EPS up 14.8% to 8.23p (2020: 7.17p) driven by development completions, portfolio rental growth and higher development management agreement (DMA) income. Adjusted EPS, excluding DMA income above our anticipated run-rate, grew 6.8% to 7.38p (2020: 6.91p).
• Dividend growth of 4.7% to 6.70p per share, 91% pay-out ratio when adjusted for exceptional DMA income³.
• Record Total Accounting Return of 30.5% (2020: 19.9%), driven by execution of strategy and strong market conditions.

Long-term structural drivers underpin unprecedented demand in our market

• Strong market take-up of 42.4 million sq ft in 2021 (2020: 43.0 million sq ft), 64% higher than the annual average since 2010.
• Limited supply response has led to record low 1.6% market vacancy (2020: 4.1% vacancy) and strong rental growth.
• Opportunity for further prime market yield compression in 2022 as investor interest in logistics remains high.

Enhanced sustainability performance

Sustainability initiatives improving environmental, social and governance (ESG) ratings:

• GRESB: Four Green Stars = 81/100 (2020: Three Green Stars = 72/100) and awarded Leader for Development in the European and Global Industrial Listed Sectors.
• Sustainalytics: Improved from 14.6 to 8.9 (Negligible Risk), Management Score 32.7 to 57.2 (Strong).
• MSCI: Upgraded to BBB from BB.

Significant value gains reflecting quality of assets, and strength of performance across entire portfolio

24.3% increase in portfolio value to £5.48 billion (31 December 2020: £4.41 billion) from development gains, asset management activity and strong market conditions, including a capital valuation surplus of 19.1% (net of capex).

Portfolio's high-quality, long-term and resilient income reflected in:

• 100% rent collection achieved for both 2020 and 2021.
• WAULT of 13.0 years as at 31 December 2021 (31 December 2020: 13.8 years).
• 0% vacancy (2020: 0%).

Proactive portfolio management providing further value creation

• £15.0 million increase in contracted rent roll to £195.6 million, including £5.0 million generated from rent reviews achieving an 8.7% increase in passing rent across 32% of the portfolio, translating into EPRA like-for-like rental growth of 3.3% for the year.
• Like-for-like ERV growth of 7.5% over the year, with an 11.0% portfolio rental reversion at the year end.
• Acquired a state-of-the-art, 0.9 million sq ft facility in South West England, for £90 million at an attractive net initial yield of 5.1%, securing long-term income and value creation opportunities.
• Progressing assets disposals with target to dispose of £100-200 million in 2022.

Accelerating levels of development activity delivering income growth at an attractive yield on cost

Development achievements during FY 2021 include:

• 3.7 million sq ft of lease completions adding £24.0 million to contracted rent.
• 1.3 million sq ft of developments under construction, with the potential to add a further £10.2 million to contracted rent, of which 21% has been let.
• 3.0 million sq ft of new planning consents secured. 

Strong start to FY 2022 with 1.8 million sq ft of near-term development starts in Q1 2022, adding a potential £13.1 million of contracted rent, of which 56% has been pre-let.

FY 2022 guidance increased to 3-4 million sq ft of starts and £350-400 million of capex into development, compared to long-term target run rate of 2-3 million sq ft per annum; maintaining 6-8% target yield on cost.  

Record levels of occupier demand across our portfolio with active negotiations on more than 10 million sq ft over 11 sites.

Total near-term development pipeline of 8.8 million sq ft with £60-70 million of rent potential.

Positive outlook, driven by clear strategy, strong balance sheet and supportive market fundamentals

Growing occupational demand/supply imbalance creating opportunities for the long-term and supporting rental growth.

Accelerating delivery of our development activity to meet growing structural demand.

Driving further value from our investment portfolio through asset management, acquisitions and disposals.

Significant capacity to fund opportunities through balance sheet strength and potential asset disposals.

Aubrey Adams, Chairman of Tritax Big Box REIT plc, commented:

“This was an excellent year for Tritax Big Box. With all areas of our business performing well, we delivered our strongest results to date with total accounting returns of 30.5%. Our performance is underpinned by the alignment between our strategy, the extensive capabilities and activity of our Manager, and the long-term structural changes in our market. With a strong balance sheet, we have the financing capacity to accelerate our development programme, enabling us to capture a growing share of the unprecedented levels of occupier demand in the market. In parallel, we continue to actively manage our investment portfolio to maximise returns through lease reviews & extensions, physical extensions and acquiring and disposing of assets. This demand, combined with continued constrained supply, is contributing to strong rental growth and rising capital values, reinforcing our ability to deliver further attractive total returns to shareholders over the coming years.”