Tritax Big Box full-year results for the 12 months ended 31 December 2023

Positive outlook supported by record portfolio reversion, significant development pipeline and resilient occupational demand

FY 2023 key figures

Increased rental income and lower costs delivering resilient adjusted earnings growth, excluding DMA income

• Adjusted EPS of 7.75 pence (2022: 7.79 pence) with higher underlying earnings growth impacted by £nil DMA income in period (FY22: £9.3 million DMA income).
  • 3.2% growth in Adjusted EPS (excluding additional DMA income), driven by rental income from completed developments, like-for-like rental growth and lower management fees, offset in part by the impact of disposals.
  • 6.2% Adjusted EPS growth excluding all DMA income in current and prior period.
  • Deferred 2023 DMA income expected to be recognised in 2024, with total 2024 DMA income expected to be in excess of £8 million. 
• 4.3% increase in dividend per share to 7.30 pence (2022: 7.00 pence) reflecting payout of 94% of Adjusted EPS (excluding additional DMA income).
• 2.2% Total Accounting Return supported by growth in IFRS earnings and more stable portfolio valuation (2022: -15.9%).
• 5.8% increase in passing rent to £217.0 million (2022: £205.1 million).
  • Stable contracted rent reflects incremental £15.4 million from acquisitions, development lettings, rent reviews and asset management, offset by £14.1 million from disposals and a lease expiry.
• 13.1% EPRA cost ratio (2022: 15.7%), supported by 15.4% reduction in management fees and rental income growth.

Occupational market supported by enduring long-term structural drivers⁶

• 22.1 million sq ft of UK lettings in 2023 (2022: 38.0 million sq ft), in line with the 23.3 million sq ft pre-covid average.
• 5.1% vacancy rate at the period end (2022: 2.0%). Space under construction back to pre-covid levels at 21.4 million sq ft (31 December 2019: 21.6 million sq ft) and significantly below 2022 peak.
• 7.2% increase in UK ERVs in the year (2022: 10.6%) and prime yields stable across H2 2023 at 5.25% (2022: 5.0%).

High-quality and resilient portfolio delivering like-for-like ERV growth and stabilising values

• £5.03 billion total portfolio value as at 31 December 2023 (2022: £5.06 billion)
• 6.9% like-for-like estimated rental value (ERV) growth, supporting valuation and resulting in record 23.0% portfolio reversion.
  • Potential to capture 78% of the £51.7 million portfolio rental reversion and vacancy in three years.
• 0.8% decline in like-for-like value of investment assets (H2 2023: 1.7% reduction) with second half reductions offsetting gains in first half (2022: 15.2% reduction).
• 11.4 years WAULT (2022: 12.6 years) provides security of income, supporting tenth consecutive year of 100% rent collection.
• 2.5% portfolio vacancy (31 December 2022: 2.1%).
• 97.3% of portfolio rated EPC A-C.

Capturing portfolio reversion and recycling capital into higher-returning opportunities to optimise performance

• £4.9 million added to annual contracted rent from rent reviews and asset management initiatives.
  • 9.1% increase in passing rent across 22.5% of portfolio reviewed.
  • 27.2% average increase in passing rent across five open market rent reviews completed in period.
  • 3.6% EPRA like-for-like rental growth (2022: 3.6%) reflecting lower proportion of portfolio subject to review.
• £327 million of assets successfully sold in period, at or above book value, reflecting a blended net initial yield of 4.3%.
• Enhancing total returns by recycling capital into developments and carefully selected acquisitions.
  • Acquired two urban logistics estates for a total of £108 million, with attractive value-add opportunities reflecting a blended reversionary yield of 6.3%.
• Further integration of ESG performance across the investment lifecycle. Working in close collaboration with our customers and wider stakeholders within the supply chain we have delivered successful outcomes reflected in improved benchmark performance including GRESB (4 Green Stars; named Global leader for development), EPRA (sBPR Gold) and Sustainalytics (Industry & Regional top rated).

Future earnings growth supported by attractive development progress and improved yield on cost

• £13.6 million added to passing rent from 2.2 million sq ft of development lease completions in the year.
• £7.8 million of annual contracted rent added through 0.9 million sq ft of development lettings at a 6.7% yield on cost, let to a diverse range of customers, with a further 0.9 million sq ft (£8.3 million potential rent) in solicitors hands.
• 1.7 million sq ft of starts in 2023 with the potential to add £15.6 million per annum to contracted rent at a yield on cost of c.7.0%.
• 0.9 million sq ft of new planning consents secured, bringing total consented undeveloped land portfolio to 6.3 million sq ft.

Strong balance sheet with conservative leverage, low cost of debt and no near-term refinancings

• We continue to maintain balance sheet strength with significant liquidity, conservative leverage and a low cost of debt:
  • 31.6% LTV at 31 December 2023 (2022: 31.2%) 8.2x Net Debt/EBITDA⁷ (2022: 8.6x)
  • 2.9% weighted average cost of debt - 96% of drawn debt either fixed or hedged
  • Over £550 million of available liquidity
  • Significant headroom on all debt covenants
  • 5.2 year average debt maturity - no debt facilities maturing before mid-2026.
• £450 million revolving credit facility refinanced and increased to £500 million at the same margin of 120bps, extending the term to 2028 and providing opportunities to reduce the margin by achieving sustainability performance targets.
• Credit rating of Baa1 with "Stable" outlook from Moody's.

Post balance sheet activity

• On 12 February 2024 we announced that we had reached agreement on the key terms of a possible all-share offer for the entire issued and to be issued share capital of UK Commercial Property REIT Limited.  A further announcement will be made in due course.

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

"We continue to drive portfolio performance by selling assets that have achieved their full potential in our ownership, reinvesting into higher-returning opportunities in our development pipeline and the investment market. Easing inflation, continuing rental growth, and improving yields on cost all reinforce our conviction in our development programme. In parallel, by leveraging our close customer relationships, we continue to create value through active management, making progress in capturing the record reversion embedded within our portfolio to further grow rental income."

"We are confident in delivering our strategy and are well positioned to take advantage of the opportunities both inherent within our business, and from an increasing number of opportunities in the market. The Group has very good potential for long-term income and capital growth, supported by enduring structural drivers in the logistics real estate market."

Presentation for analysts and investors

A Company presentation for analysts and investors will take place via a webcast with live Q&A at 09.00am today and can be viewed at: https://brrmedia.news/BBOX_FY23

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.

2. See Note 13 to the financial statements for reconciliation.

3. The anticipated run rate for development management income is £3.0-5.0 million per annum over the medium term. We classify income above this as 'additional' development management income, which can be highly variable over time. We therefore present a calculation of Adjusted EPS that excludes additional development management income. £0.0 million of development management income is included in the 7.75p Adjusted earnings per share in 2023. In 2022, £9.3 million of development management income was included in the 7.79p Adjusted earnings per share and Adjusted EPS becomes 7.51p when excluding additional development management income.

4. 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.
5. Excludes development assets, land and land options
6. All market data from CBRE. "Pre-pandemic demand" defined as demand for H1 2015 to H1 2019.
7. Based on net debt as at 31 December 2023 and EBITDA for the 12 months to 31 December 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

Tom Climie/Guy Bates                                                                                       Tel:         +44 (0) 7760 160 248

+44 (0) 7581 056 415

Email: tritax@kekstcnc.com

Notes:

Tritax Big Box REIT plc (ticker: BBOX) is the largest listed investor in high-quality logistics warehouse assets and controls the largest logistics-focused land platform in the UK. BBOX 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 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. The Company's LEI is: 213800L6X88MIYPVR714