Real Estate Investors PLC on Tuesday said it cut its dividend, as it reported a narrower loss in 2024 while revenue fell.
The Birmingham, England-based real estate investment trust is focused on commercial property assets across all sectors in the Midlands.
Pretax loss narrowed to £2.4 million in 2024 from £9.4 million in 2023.
Revenue decreased 6.4% to £10.8 million from £11.5 million, while the cost of sales dropped 0.5% to £2.22 million from £2.23 million.
The trust said the decrease in revenue was mostly due to loss of rent from sales.
The deficit in fair value of investment properties more than halved to £6.3 million from £13.2 million.
REI said it completed sales of £18.9 million in the period, at an aggregate uplift of 7.0% above December 2023 valuations.
The company said disposal proceeds were used to pay down £15.2 million of debt, reducing total debt by 28% to £39.2 million from £54.4 million.
REI declared a final quarterly dividend of 0.4 pence per share. The total dividend for 2024 is 1.9 pence per share, down 24% from 2.5 pence in 2023.
It said the level of dividend for 2025 will be subject to the pace of further disposals.
REI said it is expecting market improvement as interest rates reduce, allowing it to speed up its sales programme. However, it noted that programme’s pace is dependent on investors returning to the market.
‘In the interim, we remain open to exploring corporate transactions, including the potential sale of the entire portfolio, provided it aligns with the best interests of our shareholders,’ the company said.
‘There are signs that the investment market is bottoming out and we anticipate stable and improving values ahead,’ said Chief Executive Paul Bassi. ‘We are optimistic that, with the anticipated improvements to the property market and against a backdrop of gradually reducing interest rates, planned sales to private investors in H1 2025 and larger asset sales in H2 2025, along with further debt reduction will be achieved.
‘We are on track with our three year orderly sales programme and strategic objective of repaying all our borrowings from targeted sales and will commence our capital repayment programme in due course, whilst continuing to pay a dividend and remaining committed to maximising value for our shareholders.’
Shares in Real Estate Investors were up 1.4% at 28.90 pence in London on Tuesday afternoon.
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