Hibernia REIT PLC Hibernia REIT plc Trading Update (9530L)

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RNS Number : 9530L

Hibernia REIT PLC

25 July 2017

Hibernia REIT plc Trading Update

25 July 2017

Hibernia REIT plc ("Hibernia") issues a trading update relating to the period from 1 April 2017 to date, in advance of its Annual General Meeting being held at 11.30am today.

Highlights

-- Dublin office take-up over 1.6m sq. ft. in H1 2017 following very strong leasing activity in Q2

   --     Practical completion at 1 Windmill Lane ("1WML") expected in August 2017 

-- Two Dockland Central and 1 Sir John Rogerson's Quay ("1SJRQ") developments both remain on schedule and Hanover Building redevelopment due to commence shortly

-- Hibernia in-place office portfolio vacancy rate below 3%: various parties interested in the majority of the remaining vacant space

Occupational market update

Office leasing activity in the quarter ended June 2017 was exceptionally high at over 1.0m sq. ft., bringing take-up for the first half of 2017 to over 1.6m sq. ft. and reducing Dublin office vacancy rates to 6.5% overall and to 2.0% for Grade A space in Dublin 2/4. Encouragingly, there was a further 1.0m sq. ft. of office accommodation reserved as at 30 June 2017. Prime Grade A headline rents remained at EUR62.50 (source: CBRE).

Developments and refurbishments

1WML is now close to practical completion, which is expected to occur on schedule in August 2017. 29% of the building was pre-let to Informatica in March and discussions are on-going with a number of parties regarding additional potential lettings. Associated works on the surrounding streetscape are also expected to be substantially completed in August.

Two Dockland Central and 1SJRQ remain on track for their expected delivery dates in late 2017 and mid-2018, respectively, and in both cases discussions continue with potential tenants. As announced in May, following further pre-lets to HubSpot and ENI, Two Dockland Central is now c.75% let.

Work on the redevelopment of the Hanover Building is expected to commence on site shortly with scheduled completion in late 2018: the building is to be re-named 2 Windmill Lane ("2WML"). We are also working on our plans for the projects in our development pipeline (e.g. Cumberland Phase 2, Gateway, Clanwilliam Court, Harcourt Square).

Asset management

The vacancy rate in our in-place office portfolio is below 3% and discussions are on-going with various parties regarding the majority of the remaining vacant space in the portfolio.

The flexible workspace arrangement with Iconic Offices ("Iconic") in 21,000 sq. ft. in Clanwilliam Court continues to perform well, with over 85% of the workstations and over 70% of the available co-working memberships contracted as at the end of June 2017, significantly ahead of budgeted performance.

Balance sheet

At 30 June 2017 Hibernia had net debt of EUR167m and cash and undrawn facilities of EUR277m. Net of committed development spend, anticipated repayment of the 1WML loan facility and the upcoming final dividend payment, cash and undrawn facilities totalled EUR140m.

Kevin Nowlan, Chief Executive Officer of Hibernia, said:

"We continue to make good progress with our committed development schemes and 1 Windmill Lane is now close to completion.

"The quarter ended June 2017 saw a large amount of office leasing activity in Dublin, bringing take-up for the first half of the year to more than 1.6m sq. ft., and we are seeing good levels of tenant interest for the available space within our portfolio.

"With an exciting pipeline of developments, a well-capitalised balance sheet and a talented team we remain optimistic for the future."

ENDS

Contacts:

Hibernia REIT plc [phone]

Kevin Nowlan, Chief Executive Officer

Tom Edwards-Moss, Chief Financial Officer

Murray Consultants

Doug Keatinge: [phone], [e-mail]

Jill Farrelly: [phone], [e-mail]

About Hibernia REIT plc

Hibernia REIT plc is an Irish Real Estate Investment Trust ("REIT"), listed on the Irish and London Stock Exchanges, which owns and develops Irish property. All of Hibernia's portfolio of properties is in Dublin and it specialises in city centre offices.

This information is provided by RNS

The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

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July 25, 2017 02:01 ET (06:01 GMT)