Great Portland Estates are “well positioned” following results from the quarter to 30 June according to their latest trading results.
The results show that £4.3m of new rent was signed throughout the quarter, with 11 lettings under offer for £12.1m, of which £7m is a Great Portland Estates share. This is reportedly 4.3% ahead of the March estimated recovery value.
The real estate investment company also reported good progress on their development programme during lockdown, with three projects committed covering 414,600 sq ft. The results say that all sites open with £47.5m capital expenditure are to come, with two completing in the next four months, and a third being completed in Q3 2021.
The Great Portland Estates’ Community Fund raised more than £310,000 to support some of London’s most vulnerable.
Toby Courtauld, chief executive at Great Portland Estates, said: “Whilst the lockdown has started to ease and our office pre-letting momentum remains healthy, COVID-19 is disrupting the activities of many of our existing occupiers, which in some instances is impacting their ability to meet their rental payments.
“We continue to actively engage with all our stakeholders, in particular offering assistance to our occupiers, on a case by case basis to support them through this unprecedented time, and
helping the communities in which we work through the deployment of our new community fund.
“Despite these challenging conditions, we are well positioned. Our leverage is low providing strength in these difficult markets with significant capacity for growth should opportunities emerge; our portfolio is almost fully let and our extensive development pipeline is set to deliver high quality, sustainable spaces that remain in
high demand; this, combined with the talents of our experienced team and strong culture, means that we have the ability to choose our path to deliver on all our ambitions.”
