UK specialist investor Supermarket Income REIT has reported a total return of 8% in its maiden full-year results to June 2018, based on share price growth of 2.5% and a dividend yield of 5.5%.
According to analyst Goodbody, this contrasts notably with the broader UK REIT sector, and in particular the retail segment, which has posted negative returns over the last 12 months.
Goodbody found that the REIT had proved itself particularly efficient in investing the proceeds of its three equity raises - with an average 4-week period for deployment of capital into income-producing supermarket property.
The company has invested £255 mln since its IPO, collecting an annual rental roll of £13.7 mln from secure, long-let and inflation-hedged tenancies.
Its first year saw the company invest across the UK's 'big four', with Morrisons, Asda, Tesco and Sainsburys assets now held in the portfolio.
The REIT's net loan to value remains modest at 32.4%, Goodbody concluded, while its low cost of debt of 2.4% makes it one of the lowest in the UK REIT sector.
