Segro upbeat after rental income, profits jump

(Sharecast News) - Segro adopted an upbeat outlook on Friday, after lower interest rates and higher rental income boosted annual profits. The warehouse property developer said net rental income jumped 7% in 2024 to £628m, boosted by both development completions and like-for-like rental growth of 5.8%.

In total, there was £91m of new headline rent commitments during the period, the blue chip's third best year on record.

As a result, adjusted pre-tax profits - which also benefited from lower interest costs - sparked 14.9% to £470m. Adjusted earnings per share rose 5.5% to 34.5p.

Assets under management were £20.3bn, down marginally on 2023's £20.7bn, while the portfolio valuation was largely unchanged at £17.8bn.

The real estate investment trust said it started the current year "with confidence".

David Sleath, chief executive, continued: "We have strong conviction in the enduring structural trends that are driving occupier demand for our space.

"Our business, with its high-quality, well-located, urban-weighted portfolio, exceptional land bank and strong balance sheet is primed for further growth.

"Having seen conversations with occupiers pick up pace in recent weeks, we expect leasing and pre-letting activity to increase. This would support attractive, compounding earnings and dividend growth in the medium term, with significant additional value upside from our data centre pipeline."