Property investment specialist targeting further acquisitions

A Uk-listed real estate investment trust (REIT) managed in Edinburgh is targeting one or two acquisitions in the next few months after seeing a “good” performance in the second quarter.

Ediston Property Investment Company (Epic) said its net asset value (nav) per share at 30 June was 114.19 pence, a quarter-on-quarter increase of 1.52 per cent, while the nav total return (including dividends) came in at 2.8 per cent.

Epic, whose Scottish portfolio is about a tenth of its total and includes B&Q Coatbridge, added that the fair value independent valuation of the property portfolio as at 30 June came in at £331.3 million, an increase of 1.81 per cent on three months previously. Danny O’neill, chief executive of Ediston Properties, told The Scotsman: “Our performance has been good over the quarter.” He said the quality of the REIT’S portfolio, mainly comprising retail warehousing, has seen it unaffected by Company Voluntary Arrangements seen on the high street.

O’neill also highlighted its acquisition in the first quarter of a development site in Haddington for £2.75m. “We’re in consultation for planning consent for the retail warehouse part we hope to build there but we have heads of terms agreed with a number of retailers… we’re negotiating new leases for units, which we’ll build in due course.”

And acquisitions are likely to be of offices or retail warehousing, O’neill added. 0 Danny O’neill of Ediston praises the Q1 performance