Ediston Property Investm... Share Discussion Threads

[spectoacc] 07/4/2020 09:41

Missed that - they reckon 56% of retail park tenants staying open, far more than I'd have expected, and even with the warning on the divi, I agree it's a decent update.

"Due to the skew to convenience shopping in the portfolio, approximately 56% of the retail warehouse income is from tenants who are defined as providing 'essential services' by the UK Government and are permitted to stay open for trade."

[brwo349] 07/4/2020 09:25

I bought in today after that update

[nickrl] 05/4/2020 21:55

EPIC has 25% in offices plus a number of tenants still trading in food and the likes of Halfords/B&Q/Homebase (haven't specifically checked EPICs units) so i estimate around 45% assuming none of them elect to utilise the air cover the govt has provided. Other propcos are seeing non trading tenants paying so not unreasonable to see them getting 50%-60% this qtr but the divi will have to suspended. Monthly XD this week so lets see if they put out an RNS although pay date isnt still 30/4 so may use next NAV update towards end of month

[spectoacc] 04/4/2020 12:21

Unless there's food shopping in the retail park, can't imagine much is open. Was surprised eg Greggs closed down.

Keeping 2 metres apart impossible enough in supermarket aisles.

EPIC really do need to say something, tho I suspect it'll be little more than "We've received x% of our rent".

[nickrl] 04/4/2020 10:48

Specto retail parks are at least more open than covered shopping centres so easy to manage social distancing if restrictions were eased.

Also i wonder if the current trend of supporting your community and local traders will have a backlash against out of town retail? What if business rates get cut permanently for small shops could change tenants views on whats viable.

[spectoacc] 04/4/2020 09:33

Fair point - also been some general fund selling in some other stuff, EPIC may not be immune from that.

I still say I wouldn't touch them with a long pole tho - how long before retail parks are busy again? A year? Longer?

[jdepp5] 04/4/2020 09:30

Maybe some of latest drop was year end CGT loss related.
I sold fair few Thursday as needed to crystalise losses to offset gains earlier in year.
Market is super thin, and actually always was for EPIC but esp so now.
Theres enough alternatives similarly bombed out to reinvest proceeds in

[spectoacc] 04/4/2020 08:52

Retail terrible I agree. But offices are going to be a poor place to be IMO. Industrial mixed - Last Mile should still be fine, but these big distribution centres are rapidly going to be in trouble (think Next), particularly when many of them aren't actually for online, they're for supplying the retail estates.

How many offices are currently still up & running I wonder. Not many, at a guess.

All based on my view that we've 6, 9, maybe 12 months of this, a series of restrictions and rolling lock-downs, followed by a new normal.

Possible exception might be the prestigious address offices, eg DLN's, that are less about having people working in them.

Govnt as a tenant should also be fine - for the time being.

Got to consider the drop in economic activity going forward too, and how that affects the demand/supply balance.

[skyship] 04/4/2020 08:40

Specto - offices & industrial are the best sectors - just compare RGL's performance to that with any other with Retail above, say, 20%.

[spectoacc] 03/4/2020 21:14

Yes fair point - tbh not concerned with last qtr, it's next 2 or 3 qtrs.

Pets At Home def a good tenant. Offices much less so.

[jombaston] 03/4/2020 17:16

There's a Tesco superstore at Prestatyn - that is open. Together with the offices this is 37% of the portfolio.

Some of the retail warehouse tenants may be open eg. Pets at Home (just released a strong statement) and Boots but most will be closed as you say. As for rent collection
without a trading statement it is impossible to say. There will have been rent already collected for April and some payments may have paid quarterly. This is why we need an update.

[spectoacc] 03/4/2020 15:55

SREI another in fact, and probably more I've not seen. My own AEWL just sits there without even a dcb :)

Not sure if there's any (open) food retail in EPIC's parks - if not, I'd imagine they're all closed, all (soon to be) not paying their rent, and it then comes down to (a) debt; and (b) your opinion on how long this lasts. Most think weeks, at most a month or two. Suffice to say I don't.

Edit - NRR pushing lows too. And HMSO, if that dog can be counted. But big difference to say AEWU, RGL, SLI etc. All with different focuses but won't be too many winners from Covid-19.

[jombaston] 03/4/2020 15:44

Clearly the lack of update is unsettling...

[spectoacc] 03/4/2020 15:23

One of the first I've seen to go back through lows.

[jombaston] 25/3/2020 12:01

It would certainly be the easiest option to preserve cash and I am sure shareholders would understand. However, I am not sure how the 90% payout rules will apply. While many of the tenants will have suspended trading and rental payments not all will have done (63% of the portfolio is retail warehouse,there are offices in the regions and a Tesco superstore at Prestatyn). Clearly the dividend should at least be reduced.

I think the key question for the valuation is whether they can survive the current restrictions on trading.

There is £110m outstanding in fixed loans maturing 2025 and 2027, so no obvious re-financing risk. The blended cost is 2.86%. The cost of these loans would rise by 10bp if the LTV rate increases to over 40%. There is also a covenant at 50%. The LTV at FY end was 32.5%.

The company had £12m cash at FY end (Sep 19). So it doesn't look like there is any immediate liquidity risk but this is from the annual report. There was a trading update at the end of January but this pre-dates the current crisis.

It would be very nice to have an update to reassure!

[nickrl] 23/3/2020 15:23

EPIC becoming an outlier with no RNS on C19 impact albeit i get they really don't have a handle on making an forward looking statements but others have at least put out a state of the nation position report. They will face considerable rental loss as most of there tenants have either voluntarily suspended trading or will probably be forced to sooner rather than later so will be seeking rental holidays. So am expecting the monthly dividend to be suspended from next months payment.

[spectoacc] 18/3/2020 13:45

That's some fall RGL but as you say - debt.

Going some to fall further than retail park EPIC tho.

[skyship] 18/3/2020 13:16

Which regional REIT is the worst performer - ANS: RGL, most likely due to its 40% LTV


free stock charts from uk.advfn.com

[cwa1] 05/3/2020 15:17

5 March 2020

Ediston Property Investment Company plc

(the "Company")

Announcement of Interim Dividend

The Company has today declared its interim dividend (property income distribution) payment in respect of the period from 1 February 2020 to 29 February 2020 of 0.4792 pence per share as timetabled below:

Ex-Dividend Date: 12 March 2020
Record Date: 13 March 2020
Pay Date: 31 March 2020
This monthly dividend of 0.4792 pence per share equates to an annualised dividend level of 5.75 pence per share.

It is anticipated that the Company will pay a further monthly dividend of 0.4792 pence per share in April 2020 (for the month to 31 March 2020).

[skyship] 22/2/2020 18:18

HMSO were apparently seeking for bids over £400m, and actually achieved £430m; even though they were very publicly a distressed seller.



As the article infers, the Retail Warehouse market is actually not as bleak as often painted.

[skyship] 21/2/2020 08:54

Agreed, Specto - a good summary - upticked.

In rather high spirits this morning due to the DJAN bid...now just have to decide where in the sector I should reallocate the cash 😊

[skyship] 21/2/2020 08:51

PW reports, but unfortunately subscribers only:

Martin’s Properties adds retail park to its portfolio

By Emma ShoneFri 21 February 2020

Martin’s Properties has added the first retail park to its £375m portfolio.

[kenny] 21/2/2020 08:49

SpectoAcc, your post 172, an excellent and balanced summary, in my opinion, which I agree with.

I would highlight the fact that a covered dividend is great but is an ineffective positive: in circumstances where NAV is reducing by as much as the dividend, if not exceeding the yield, because of property devaluation.

[nickrl] 21/2/2020 08:48

Huge the 22% discount to June 2019 values is savage and is around double the average NAV that other retail park holding REITs have reported. A quick skim of the assets sold look as though there decent enough and comparable with EPIC so unless they were loaded up with CVA / short lease occupancy this may influence the valuers on next valuation reviews.

I wonder if our Co had a look over any of them but i reckon we will below 80 here unfortunately.

[hugepants] 21/2/2020 08:16

fyi Hammersons today announced a disposal some of their retail parks. "This transaction is the largest UK retail parks portfolio sale in the past decade."

"...this final tranche of disposals totals £455m and represents a net initial yield of 8.7%, with a discount to a June 2019 book value of 22.2%. "