NewRiver, the UK REIT and pub owner, has a pipeline of 1 million sq ft of planning consents for residential developments above its pubs and car parks.
The group will open its 15th convenience store with the CO-OP by the end of the month, generating the first performance fee receipt of £750,000 with agreement to deliver up to 40 c-stores.
The details were included in the group’s update for the third quarter, which also showed retail occupancy of 97% across it shopping centre portfolio and a 0.5% increase in footfall, outperforming the UK benchmark by 270bps.
Paul Roy, chairman, said: “NewRiver had a good third quarter, with our convenience-led, community-focused portfolio again performing well and significantly outperforming the wider UK retail market.
“Our occupancy has remained strong at a record level of 97%, supported by affordable average rents of £12.70 per square foot. The grocers, convenience store operators, and discount and value retailers which are at the core of our portfolio had a good quarter, underpinned by positive like-for-like sales over the Christmas trading period. In fact, the discount retail sector is forecast to grow by 36% over the next 5 years* - which is ahead of online - driven by a shift in consumer behaviour towards value for money and frequent spend on non-discretionary everyday essentials. Importantly we recognised the structural challenge faced by department stores some time ago and therefore have almost no rental exposure to that part of the market.
“Finally, our like-for-like footfall was up over the quarter by 0.5% and 1.9% during December, significantly outperforming the national benchmark. The strength of our key metrics underpin our growing dividend, which increased by 5% in the third quarter.
“Looking ahead, our conservatively geared balance sheet is strongly positioned to exploit accretive opportunities over the coming months and we remain confident in our ability to deliver growing and sustainable cash returns to our shareholders from our convenience-led, community-focused portfolio.”
