Custodian REIT announces the disposal of a city centre office and retail unit in Edinburgh

Custodian REIT (LSE: CREI), the UK property investment company, is pleased to announce the disposal of a property from its portfolio.

The Company has sold a 39,279 sq ft city centre office and retail unit in Edinburgh for £9.1 million¹, in line with the 30 June 2019 valuation, having acquired the property as part of a portfolio in January 2016.

Following the disposal, net gearing² has decreased to 21.1%.

Commenting on the disposal Richard Shepherd-Cross, Managing Director of Custodian Capital Limited (the Company’s external fund manager), said:

“Following the completion of a refurbishment and various asset management initiatives, which increased the weighted average unexpired lease term to expiry to 8.7 years, we anticipated limited opportunities for future rental growth and believe the disposal proceeds can be redeployed on property with better income and capital growth prospects.”

¹ Before rent top-ups and cost guarantees relating to vacant space of circa £0.3 million.
² Gross borrowings less unrestricted cash divided by last published property portfolio valuation.