Completion of £1.2bn strategic acquisition of UK Commercial Property REIT Limited (UKCM)

• High-quality urban logistics assets complement existing portfolio, broaden client offer and increase income and capital growth potential, with 39% rental reversion at acquisition.
• Quality of acquired logistics assets reflected in 3.9% ERV growth and a 5.8% uplift in asset values since June 2024. 
• Cost savings support earnings growth and enhance balance sheet strength by lowering LTV.
• £181.2 million or 38% of non-strategic assets disposals exchanged or completed since acquisition at a premium to book value.

Rental income growth supporting Adjusted EPS growth, enhanced by DMA contribution

• 39.1% increase in contracted annual rent to £313.5 million (31 December 2023: £225.3 million) driven by UKCM acquisition, asset management and development activity.
• 15.0% increase in Adjusted EPS to 8.91 pence (2023: 7.75 pence) driven by net rental income growth and Development Management Agreement (DMA) income.
  • Adjusted EPS excluding additional DMA income grew 3.9% to 8.05p (2023: 7.75p).
• 2.6% EPRA cost ratio excluding vacancy costs (2023: 13.1%) reduction driven by UKCM synergies and efficient externally managed structure. 13.6% EPRA cost ratio including vacancy costs (2023: 13.1%), reflecting assumed vacancy from UKCM acquisition.

Future earnings growth supported by record logistics portfolio reversion

• 5.4% like-for-like Estimated Rental value (ERV) growth across logistics portfolio for the period (2023: 6.9%).
• Record 27.9% logistics portfolio reversion provides potential to capture £79.2 million of additional rent, of which 79% has the potential to be captured by 2027, supporting future earnings growth.
• Increase in total portfolio value to £6.55 billion (31 December 2023: £5.03 billion), following the acquisition of UKCM, with equivalent yield remaining broadly stable at 5.68% (31 December 2023: 5.60%).
• 2.8% portfolio capital value increase (2023: 0.8% reduction) driven by income growth and asset management, increasing to 3.7% when including the £67.8 million net gain on the UKCM acquisition.

Growing rental income through active management

•  £11.6 million added to annual contracted rent through rent reviews and asset management initiatives:
  • Including 34.6% increase in aggregate across open market linked rent reviews settled in period.
  • 4.1% annualised rental growth across rent reviews settled in period (2023: 3.3%).
• 3.9% EPRA like-for-like rental growth reflects ongoing market rental growth and higher proportion of reviews (2023: 3.6%)

3.3% premium achieved on £306.2 million of disposals – 38% of non-strategic UKCM assets sold

• £181.2 million, representing 38% of UKCM non-strategic exchanged or sold:
  • 6.2% blended NIY, achieving a 2.8% premium to the market value at time of acquisition:
  • £86.8 million of which is scheduled to complete in Q1 2025.
  • Further approximate £177.4 million of UKCM related non-strategic assets currently under offer.
• £125.0 million of additional disposals from logistics portfolio at a 5.0% NIY, achieving a 4.1% premium to book values, £79.0 million of which completed in Q1 2025.
• £46.0 million acquisition of 479k sq ft East Midlands cold store let to Co-Op, with 7.3% reversionary yield.
• Post period end completed £74.3 million acquisition of 627k sq ft cold-store building in the North West let to Sainsburys at a 6.0% NIY, expected to achieve a running yield of 7% by 2028.

Developing best-in-class logistics assets to drive earnings growth

• £11.1 million of new contracted rent secured from development lettings, including 1.0 million sq ft pre-let to a global leader in e-commerce, representing one of the UK’s largest pre-lets in 2024.
• 1.9 million sq ft of development starts in 2024, including 0.4 million sq ft which has been pre-sold under a DMA contract, and expected to deliver a 7% average yield on cost.
• Development starts for FY25 expected to be in line with FY24 levels and within our 2–3 million sq ft guidance.
  • DMA income expected to contribute £10 million to FY25 operating profit.
• Development yield on cost expected to be at the upper end of 6-8% guidance for 2025 starts.
  • 21% reduction in weighted average embodied carbon from completed developments to 287 kg CO₂e per m² (2023: 365 kg CO₂e per m²).

Strong balance sheet well positioned to support our strategy

• 28.8% LTV at 31 December 2024 (31 December 2023: 31.6%) and Net Debt/EBITDA⁵ of 7.3x (31 December 2023: 8.2x).
• 3.05% weighted average cost of debt (31 December 2023: 2.93%), with 93.4% of drawn debt either fixed or hedged.
• Over £550 million of available liquidity as at 31 December 2024, 4.5 year average debt maturity and no refinancings prior to June 2026.
• Upgrade from Moody’s of credit rating outlook to Baa1 (positive) from Baa1 (stable).

147 MW data centre opportunity and 1 GW pipeline announced post year end

• Phase 1 Manor Farm targeting 9.3% yield-on-cost and significant development profits.
• Expected to be one of the UK’s largest data centres, targeting delivery of 107 MW Phase 1 data centre in H2 2027, with a possible second phase data centre of 40 MW.
• Accelerated power delivery via joint venture with a leading European renewable and low carbon energy power generator.
•  Additional c.1 GW pipeline of UK opportunities identified.

Commenting on the results, Aubrey Adams, Chairman of Tritax Big Box REIT, said:

“This has been an exceptional year for the Company, marked by significant transformational change alongside strong operational performance. The acquisition of UKCM has complemented our portfolio with high-quality urban logistics assets offering substantial rental reversion potential. The quality and liquidity of UKCM’s assets is further demonstrated by our ability to sell non-strategic assets above their December 2023 valuations, unlocking additional capital to fund future growth. Operationally, the Manager has captured significant rental income through proactive asset management and development activities, including securing one of the year’s largest pre-lets.

“We enter 2025 well positioned with three powerful growth drivers in our business: capturing record rental reversion, advancing our highly attractive logistics development pipeline, and leveraging opportunities to develop data centres with the potential for exceptional returns.”

Notes 

1.       Operating profit before FV movements and other adjustments. 

2.       See Note 15 to the financial statements for reconciliation. 

3.       The anticipated run rate for Development Management Agreement (DMA) 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. £23.0 million of DMA income is included in the 8.91p Adjusted earnings per share in 2024. 2023: £nil included in 7.75p Adjusted earnings per share). 

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.       Calculated based on pro-forma EBITDA inclusive of full twelve months contribution of UKCM, adjusted for fair value of UKCM debt at acquisition.

6.       An alternative performance measure. The Group uses a number of financial measures to assess and explain its performance, some of which are considered to be alternative performance measures as they are not defined under IFRS. For further details, see the Financial review and Notes to the EPRA and other key performance indicators section, as well as definitions in the Glossary.

For further information, please contact:

Tritax Group

Colin Godfrey, CEO                                                                                       +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                                                                                   +44 (0) 77 601 60 248 / +44 (0) 75 810 56 415

Email: tritax@kekstcnc.com

The Company's LEI is: 213800L6X88MIYPVR714

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. 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 clients on long-term leases with upward-only rent reviews and geographic and client diversification throughout 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 Official List of the UK Financial Conduct Authority 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