Ediston Property Investm... Share Discussion Threads

[spectoacc] 21/2/2020 07:41

Not got back in yet, but am watching. View on EPIC hasn't changed - they made a monumental error 2 years ago, shifting into Retail Parks and believing retail problems would only be High St.

Quilter appear to agree, and seem to be the seller, with c.15% to go (tho of course, they may just be adjusting rather than dumping all).

Fully covered divi a big plus - could "do a Chucko1" and ignore the NAV. But that depends how bad the NAV fall gets, and where the covenant tests are. Losing 3% in a quarter isn't a good look.

"A problem for the sector is that many of the traditional 20 to 25-year leases signed either side of the millennium are expiring. Rents on many of the fashion orientated retail parks are significantly out of line with the level of rent affordable to suit the modern needs of retailers and their 'omnichannel strategies'. Investors are discounting prices to reflect the risk of voids and reletting units at much lower rents and demanding higher yields for that risk. Unfortunately, the Company is not immune from the valuation impact of this despite the more defensive nature of its retail warehouse assets. "


To be fair to EPIC, their rents aren't bad. The issue is what rents the owners of the void properties will have to offer. So although they talk it up as just a valuation issue, it's also a rent level issue. Only takes small pressure on £psf to have big effects on NAV.

So still on the sidelines here - but 85p already prices in a reasonable amount. Parks (most of them) aren't dead, unlike many shopping centres.

[skyship] 20/2/2020 14:07

eeza - no certainly not; would never assume to suggest such a thing (hope you grabbed a few cheap ones 😊)

[eeza] 20/2/2020 13:59

& No Recommendation Intended !!

[skyship] 20/2/2020 13:39

and more:

31st January 2020
Currys commits to North Wales retail parks

Ediston, on behalf of the Ediston Property Investment Company plc has completed two lease renewals with DSG Retail Limited, t/a Currys, securing £464,094 of income per annum.

At Clwyd Retail Park in Rhyl, Currys has signed a five-year lease extension on its 10,020 sq. ft. unit. The lease was due to end in March 2020 but will now expire in 2025. This lease extension follows recent lease restructures completed on the park with Pets at Home and B&Q plc.

In addition, at Plas Coch Retail Park in Wrexham, Currys has agreed to restructure its lease to give a 10-year term certain. The lease on the 22,182 sq. ft. unit was due to expire in June 2022 but Currys has signed a lease which will keep it on the park until 2029.

These transactions underscore the tenant’s commitment to the retail parks and prove that there is still demand for physical retailing if the assets are well-located and let off affordable rents.

[skyship] 20/2/2020 13:38

EPIC show what to do with the CVA opportunists:

31st January 2020
Break notice served on Arcadia at Widnes Shopping Park:

Following Arcadia’s CVA last year, Ediston, on behalf of the Ediston Property Investment Company plc has exercised its option to break the lease to Arcadia.

Ediston considered that the rent set under the CVA was below market, so took the opportunity to exercise the break clause.

The 13,202 sq. ft. unit will be split in two, and 6,792 sq. ft. has been pre-let to JD Sports and there is good tenant interest in the remaining 6,006 sq. ft. unit.

[skyship] 20/2/2020 13:06

Orinocor - up to about 11:00 they were small sales; thereafter who knows - currently 83.2p-83.6p

[nickrl] 20/2/2020 12:55

My biggest holding but im reluctant to take anymore because there NAV will get trashed by the valuers again at next update despite reasonable quality of what they hold.

[orinocor] 20/2/2020 12:10

The small sells are in fact small buys. I'm in at 83.54p

[skyship] 20/2/2020 11:56

An intriguing run of small sales today. Further sales by a Quilter client perhaps.

At 84p (current offer inc exps - I know, I just topped-up) the discount = 19% and the yld = 6.85%.

With the cover so high, that dividend yield might well improve.

[spectoacc] 11/2/2020 07:27

Not bad, particularly since it has been lower - still sees it as a bargain here.

Tho presumably he has more insight into Coronavirus than the rest of us. Be interested to know how much of goods sold in EPIC-owned retail parks are sourced from China.

(Most of them, I suspect).

[owenski] 11/2/2020 07:17

£435k's worth

[skyship] 11/2/2020 07:13

A pretty impressive commitment:

"The Company is pleased to announce that Daniel O'Neill, Chief Executive Officer of Ediston Properties Limited, the Company's Investment Manager, purchased 500,000 Ordinary Shares of the Company at GBP0.87 per share, on 10 February 2020. This brings his holding in the Company to 858,448 shares in total."

[spectoacc] 29/1/2020 15:26

NAV down nearly 5% in just one qtr, if I'm reading it right. So c.-20% annualised.

[nickrl] 29/1/2020 13:37

You can sense there frustration that they are being lumped with the general malaise over retail but there valuer seems to be hammering them harshly every qtr compared to others. The risk is that as NAV erodes share price discount narrows and it doesn't look vfm or worse its loan covenants come under pressure.

[ramellous] 29/1/2020 13:03

Nav down nearly 5% but income raised and dividend well covered. A propco managed for yield indeed. share price is well below nav so I will be still reinvesting divis here.

[eeza] 26/1/2020 20:23

Mentioned in today's DM. Scroll down for EPIC (title below)

"Building income from commercial property"
"Edison Property Investment Company currently provides investors with a monthly income of 0.4792p a share, on shares priced at 87p. It works out at an annual dividend payment of 5.75p per share, equating to a dividend yield of 6.7 per cent.

The income is derived from the rents received on 16 commercial properties the trust holds – all in the UK and primarily comprising out-of-town retail parks.

Although manager Calum Bruce accepts UK commercial property is 'challenged',.............. more...

[spectoacc] 24/1/2020 07:45

@HP - yes, EPIC not solely retail parks, but if you look at some of the things they claim to not be, eg "Leisure":


Or "development":


Even some office:


Seemingly (assuming website up to date, as they often aren't) there's 3 or 4 offices (Edinburgh, Newcastle, Bath), 2 Bingo halls (which aren't far off being "retail park" IMO), a retail park development site, and 10 retail parks.

Ergo, EPIC is retail parks.

NRR have converted/sold on some pubs it's true, but in NAV terms the pub side is growing, the retail side less so (a polite way of saying it's shrinking in NAV terms, tho the JV's are adding). To describe NRR as "shopping centres" is a stretch, since it conjures up images of INTU-style disasters.

Edit - what I don't know is the income split for either, ie where the money's mainly from.

[ramellous] 23/1/2020 23:26

£10k worth of Epic gives about £54 a month in an isa or SIPP. These are pid dividends so in a normal trading account you will be taxed at 20%

[eeza] 23/1/2020 22:08

NRR also have an income from managing assets for others.

[hugepants] 23/1/2020 21:41

fyi NRR's portfolio is roughly 55% shopping centres, 15% retail parks, 25% pubs and 5% other. EPICs is 65% retail parks, 25% offices, 10% other.

[spectoacc] 23/1/2020 16:15

This company has a low divdend and a covered LTV ;)

NRR not really the same sector, it's 1/3rd pubs, v cheap rents on retail, alternative use etc, & now a JV asset management arm. EPIC made an epic error nearly 2 years ago in selling their decent stuff to get into seemingly "cheap" retail parks.

Saw a comment recently - of course, can't remember where - that said some big downward revaluations are coming on retail parks.

Tho fine if the tenants keep trading, the rents keep coming in, and the LTV/divi remains OK.

I'd be interested to really dig down and see what rents are above-market, and likely to fall on renewal - assuming renewal forthcoming.

(To be fair, I don't mind EPIC down here - tho not currently in it).

[hugepants] 23/1/2020 16:10

At least this company has a a low LTV and a covered dividend. This looks much more attractive than the likes of NRR (same sector) which has neither!

[cwa1] 16/1/2020 08:09

XD today, paid 31/1

[spectoacc] 10/1/2020 12:37

DNLM also doing very well in the "home" category.

Everyone else seems to be sinking at a remarkable pace. SDRY, JOUL both today, CARD yesterday.

[ramellous] 10/1/2020 09:36

Not all retail is equal.. From B&M today..

B&M UK stores business sales revenue in the 13 week period increased by 8.8% to £957.4m (2018: £879.9m) with LFL sales of +0.3%. Our LFL performance was held back by disappointing sales across the Toys & Seasonal Confectionery categories, which was offset by continued strength and outperformance across our Home Departments."