Warehousing firm Segro optimistic on 2024 after annual profit beat

By Aby Jose Koilparambil

(Reuters) - Segro expects its property values to recover this year amid interest rate cut hopes, it said on Friday, after robust rental growth helped the British warehousing group and real estate investment trust beat 2023 profit forecasts.

Shares in the FTSE 100 firm were trading 1.2% higher at 843.2 pence by 1333 GMT.

Real estate investment trusts (REITs) such as Segro, which grappled with increased costs and elevated interest rates last year, are optimistic about higher rents and improved valuations for properties amid near-term prospects of monetary policy easing.

"Market expectations for lower interest rates, if sustained, provide a positive backdrop for a recovery of investment market sentiment as the year progresses," CEO David Sleath said.

Regarding the UK, its top market, slipping into recession, Chief Financial Officer Soumen Das told Reuters that a technical recession such as the current one would not have a severe impact on the firm's business.

"It is undeniable that we are in a period of relatively flat GDP where you are not going to get top-line growth unless you grow market share even as margins erode due to cost pressures," said Das.

Segro, which manages big box and urban warehouses among other assets, said its adjusted net asset value - a key metric that gauges the value of its properties - fell 6.1% to 907 pence in 2023.

Jefferies analysts in a note pointed to "ample liquidity" of 1.9 billion pounds ($2.39 billion) available for the company, which essentially ruled out a rights issue some in the market were expecting.

Segro posted a 6% rise in 2023 adjusted pre-tax profit to 409 million pounds, topping the 387.7 million expected by analysts, LSEG data showed.

Its annual net rental income rose 12.5% to 587 million pounds, while the occupancy rate at Segro's properties slipped to 95% from 96%.

The London-headquartered company, which operates in Britain and seven other European countries, raised its full-year dividend pay by 5.7% to 27.8 pence per share.

($1 = 0.7949 pounds)

(Reporting by Aby Jose Koilparambil in Bengaluru; editing by Susan Fenton and Jason Neely)