Tritax Big Box results for the six months ended 30 June 2023

Strong operational performance, robust balance sheet and significant opportunities 

Earnings driven by rental growth and lower costs 

• 5.6% increase in Adjusted EPS to 3.94 pence (H1 2022: 3.73 pence) driven by practical completions of let developments, increasing rents from active management of assets and reduced operating costs from 14% reduction in management fee. 
• 4.5% increase in dividend to 3.50 pence per share (H1 2022: 3.35 pence) reflecting 89% of Adjusted EPS payout ratio. 
• 3.5% Total Accounting Return (H1 2022: 10.7%) supported by stabilising portfolio valuation. 
• 3.1% increase in passing rent to £211.6 million (31 December 2022: £205.1 million).  

• Contracted rent unchanged at £224.0 million following incremental £4.1m from development lettings, £2.0m added from rent reviews, offset by £6.1m from disposals. 

• Lowest reported EPRA cost ratio of 12.6% (H1 2022: 15.2%), reflecting 9.8% reduction in administrative expenses and increasing net rental income. 
• Reduction in IFRS EPS reflects lower valuation surplus during period compared to H1 2022. 

Occupational market continues to be supported by long term structural drivers6 

• 10.0 million sq ft of UK lettings in H1 2023, in line with 12.8m sq ft pre-pandemic average. 

• Vacancy at 3.4% at the period end (31 December 2022: 2.0%), with supply of new space now slowing. 
• In H1 2023, UK prime headline rents increased by an average of 4.9%. 
• Valuations stabilising, with the CBRE UK Monthly Industrial index recording capital value growth of 1.4% for the six month period.  

High-quality and resilient portfolio supporting ongoing like-for-like ERV growth and stabilising valuations 

• Total portfolio value of £5.05 billion as at 30 June 2023 (31 December 2022: £5.06 billion), equating to an equivalent yield of 5.3% (31 December 2022: 5.3%).  

• Valuation supported by like-for-like Estimated Rental Value (ERV) growth of 3.9% bringing overall portfolio reversion to 21.3%.  
• Portfolio composed of institutional-grade customers on long leases with WAULT of 12.1 years (31 December 2022: 12.6 years). 
• Maintained 100% rent collection (H1 2022: 100%); approaching 10 years of consistent 100% rent collection. 
• 1.9% portfolio vacancy (31 December 2022: 2.1%), reducing to 1.4% post the period end from further development lettings. 
• 99% of portfolio rated EPC A-C, with incremental £2.5 million required to bring all assets to a minimum of EPC B rating.  

Capturing portfolio reversion and recycling capital into higher-returning opportunities 

• Added £2.0 million to contracted rents through rent reviews, achieving 8.8% increase to passing rent across 9.9% of portfolio reviewed. 

• Two open market rent reviews completed achieving average 29.2% uplift.  
• EPRA like-for-like rental growth of 3.6% (H1 2022: 3.3%) over the period. 

• Completed or exchanged on £235 million of asset disposals in H1 2023: 

• In line with or above December 2022 valuations and reflecting a blended net initial yield of 4.4%.  
• Further £100-200 million of disposals targeted in H2 2023.  
• Recycling capital to enhance total returns. 

• Acquired Junction 6 Logistics Park post period end, one of the UK’s leading urban logistics estates, for £58.0 million at a 4.6% net initial yield, complementing our investment portfolio, broadening our customer offer and providing attractive opportunities to grow income in the near term reflected in 6.7% reversionary yield. 
• We continue to deliver ESG performance with the detailed integration of our ESG targets across the investment lifecycle including our asset management and development management activities.  

Earnings growth supported by continued development progress  

• Occupational enquiries on development pipeline at near record levels. 
• 2.6 million sq ft under construction of which 65% pre-let or let during construction securing annual contracted rent of £12.5 million. 
• £10.5 million added to passing rent from 1.4 million sq ft of development lease completions in the period.  
• £4.1 million added to annual contracted rent from 0.5 million sq ft of new development lettings in period.  

• 0.8 million sq ft of development starts in H1 2023; maintaining guidance of 2-3 million sq ft of starts in FY 2023. 
• 0.9 million sq ft of new planning consents secured, bringing total consented undeveloped land portfolio to 7.2 million sq ft. 
• 6-8% yield on cost guidance maintained, with 2023 schemes expected to be delivered in the mid 6-7% range. 

Maintaining a strong balance sheet with conservative leverage and low cost of debt 

• LTV of 30.3% at 30 June 2023 (31 December 2022: 31.2%) and Net Debt/EBITDA of 8.3x7 (31 December 2022: 8.6x). 

• Weighted average cost of debt remains low at 2.6%, with 100% of drawn debt either fixed or hedged. 
• More than £550 million of available liquidity as at 30 June 2023, significant headroom on all debt covenants, and 4.9 year average debt maturity. 
• Credit rating of Baa1 with positive outlook reaffirmed by Moody’s. 

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

"We continue to successfully implement our strategy to drive operational performance delivering positive growth in rents, earnings and dividends. While the macro-economic environment remains challenging, customers continue to demand high-quality, well-located, and sustainable logistics space. With supply remaining constrained, we are seeing strong interest in our development sites supporting our future rental income and capital value growth. We remain focused on enhancing operational performance by actively managing assets to capture growing levels of rental reversion within the portfolio, crystalising value through asset sales and recycling capital into higher-returning opportunities. This includes taking advantage of investment market conditions to acquire attractive assets where we can broaden our customer offer and drive income growth in the near term through asset management initiatives. Tritax Big Box remains well financed, with a strong balance sheet, a low cost of debt and significant liquidity, giving us the resources to continue to advance our strategy. 

“The exceptional scale and quality of our portfolio and operations – as the largest listed investor in UK logistics real estate and the owner of the biggest logistics-focused development platform – are key advantages which ideally position us to capitalise on the attractive fundamentals of our sector and deliver long-term value for shareholders.” 

Presentation for analysts and investors 

A Company presentation for analysts and investors will take place via a webcast with live Q&A at 10.00am (BST) today and can be viewed at: https://stream.brrmedia.co.uk/broadcast/64b026be02658279b596c0ae 

If you would like to ask questions verbally please join the presentation via conference call: 

UK: +44 (0) 33 0551 0200 

US: +1 786 697 3501 

Password: Tritax Big Box 

The presentation will also be accessible on-demand later in the day on the Company website: https://www.tritaxbigbox.co.uk/investors/results-and-presentations/ 

Notes 

1. Operating profit before changes in fair value and other adjustments. 

1. See Note 6 to the financial statements for reconciliation. 

1. The anticipated run rate for development management income is £3.0-5.0 million per annum over the medium term. Adjusted EPS remains at 3.94p when excluding development management income above this anticipated run rate (‘additional’ development management income). £0.0 million of development management income is included in the 3.94p Adjusted earnings per share in H1 2023 (2022: £2.6 million included in 3.73p Adjusted earnings per share). 

1. The Portfolio Value includes the Group's investment assets and development assets, land assets held at cost, the Group's share of joint venture assets and other property assets. 

1. Excludes development assets, land and land options. 

1. All market data from CBRE. “Pre-pandemic demand” defined as demand for H1 2015 to H1 2019. 

1. Based on net debt as at 30 June 2023 and EBITDA for the twelve months to 30 June 2023 

For further information, please contact: 

Tritax Group 

Colin Godfrey, CEO Tel: +44 (0) 20 8051 5060 Frankie Whitehead, CFO bigboxir@tritax.co.uk 
Ian Brown, Head of Corporate Strategy & Investor Relations 

Kekst CNC 

Neil Maitland/Guy Bates Tel: +44 (0) 7971 578 507 

+44 (0) 7581 056 415 

Email: tritax@kekstcnc.com 

The Company's LEI is: 213800L6X88MIYPVR714 

Notes: 

Tritax Big Box REIT plc (Tritax Big Box or the Company) is the UK’s specialist in logistics real estate with the UK’s largest investment portfolio and largest logistics-focused land platform. Tritax Big Box is committed to delivering attractive and sustainable returns for shareholders by investing in and actively managing existing built investments and land suitable for logistics development. The Company focuses on well-located, modern logistics assets, typically let to institutional-grade tenants on long-term leases with upward-only rent reviews and geographic and tenant diversification throughout the UK. The Company seeks to exploit the significant opportunity provided by long-term global structural drivers, together with the imbalance between strong occupational demand and constrained supply of modern logistics real estate in the UK. 

The Company is a real estate investment trust to which Part 12 of the UK Corporation Tax Act 2010 applies, is listed on the premium segment of the Official List of the UK Financial Conduct Authority (Ticker: BBOX) and is a constituent of the FTSE 250, FTSE EPRA/NAREIT and MSCI indices. 

Further information on Tritax Big Box REIT is available at www.tritaxbigbox.co.uk