Great Portland Estates plc Announces Half-Year Results

Great Portland Estates plc (GPE) today announced its results for the six months ended 30 September 2024, reporting a period of significant strategic progress and continued resilience amidst challenging market conditions. The company has leveraged its robust financial position to embark on a series of acquisitions, enhanced leasing results, and strengthened its development pipeline, all aimed at securing long-term shareholder value.

In line with the strategy to enhance portfolio quality and capitalise on market opportunities, GPE has invested £106.1 million (or £201.0 million including capital expenditures) in three acquisitions since 1 April 2024, reflecting a substantial 61% discount to replacement cost. The company remains active in its search for valuable opportunities, with £1.0 billion in properties under review and negotiations ongoing for £125 million in assets. Additionally, £0.9 billion worth of assets are on GPE’s watchlist, providing a strong pipeline for potential future investments.

Toby Courtauld, Chief Executive, said*: *“We are pleased to report on another successful operational performance, despite challenging political and economic conditions and fluctuating sector sentiment over the first half. With deep customer demand for prime, sustainable spaces in our core markets and an increasing shortage of such supply, we are well placed to capitalise; our leasing is strong, beating the valuer’s estimates by 7% on average with our spaces currently under offer some 16% ahead. We expect our rents to continue rising, reaffirming our rental growth guidance, as we fill our well-timed and located, sustainable developments and refurbishments, growing our rent roll by some 99% from our existing commitments alone.

We added substantially to our platform for growth during the half through our successful £350 million rights issue in June and a further £400 million of debt issuance since then. With investment capacity in excess of £650 million, and asset pricing at or near cyclical lows, we acquired £106m of new HQ development and Flex opportunities in the West End at deep discounts to replacement cost. With a circa £1 billion pipeline of potential purchases under review, we expect to transact further in the second half, supplementing our exceptional on-site and near-term development programme which already covers 1.2 million sq ft and will generate significant surpluses.

In this context, with our deep and talented team, GPE is in great shape and is positioned for growth. We look to our exciting future with confidence.”