LondonMetric rental income rises 8% as property portfolio grows

LondonMetric Property PLC on Monday reported strong rental income growth in the first half of its financial year, supported by acquisitions and leasing activity, as it reaffirmed its confidence in meeting full-year expectations.

The London-based property investor said net rental income rose more than 8% to around £240 million in the six months to September 30, driven by its 2025 acquisition of Urban Logistics REIT, high occupancy, and strong rent reviews.

The company's property portfolio grew to £8 billion following further corporate activity, including its recent acquisition of Picton Property.

Rent collection stood at 99%, while occupancy reached 97%, despite inheriting a relatively high vacancy rate from Picton.

Rent reviews delivered an average uplift of 17%, helping the portfolio achieve annualised like-for-like income growth of 5.8%.

LondonMetric said the performance left it firmly on track to meet analysts' consensus for EPRA earnings per share of 13.9 pence in the financial year ending March 2027, compared with 13.5p in financial 2026.

The company expects to declare a second-quarter dividend of 3.15p per share, matching its first-quarter payout, which rose 3.3%.

It said this would keep it on course for a twelfth consecutive year of dividend growth. Analysts expect a full-year dividend of 12.8p per share, up from 12.45p in financial 2026.

During the period, LondonMetric completed £185 million of disposals across 36 properties, broadly in line with their March 2026 book values.

Acquisitions totalled £424 million, including £307 million in assets acquired through Picton, 83% of which were logistics warehouses.

The company also acquired £117 million of direct property, including a Waitrose and John Lewis store in Horsham for £31 million.

Asset management initiatives added £11.8 million in annual rental income, comprising £7.9 million from rent reviews and £3.9 million from lettings and lease regears.

Annual net contracted rent increased to £452 million from £432 million at the start of the period.

Chief Executive Andrew Jones said: "While we can't predict how the macroeconomic environment will evolve, our all-weather portfolio is on the right side of changing consumer behaviour, and its alignment to the winning sectors has once again delivered strong operational performance with rental income continuing to flow and grow to record levels."

LondonMetric will publish its half-year results on November 24.

Shares in the company were 0.6% lower at 178.40 pence in London on Monday morning.

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