Growth in Scotland’s industrial property sector

Scotland’s industrial and logistics property sector has seen solid take-up figures despite ongoing economic challenges, research has revealed.

Releasing its market overview on the industrial and logistics sector across Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow in 2020, property advisor CBRE predicted significant growth this year, though development is “urgently” required to meet demand.

David Reid, associate director in CBRE Scotland’s industrial and logistics team, said: “2020 was a remarkable year of resilience for the industrial market in Scotland with a total take-up of 5.45 million square feet.

“2020 take-up was on par with 2019, however interestingly this was achieved over significantly fewer deals (320 deals, down from 566 in 2019). The average transaction size was up from 9,500 sq ft to over 17,000 sq ft, reflecting occupiers’ drive for larger properties in response to supply chain challenges emanating from the Covid pandemic.”

The pound continued its strong growth against the US dollar, as confidence in the UK’S vaccine rollout appears to be gaining traction.

Sterling surged above 1.40 dollars for the first time since April 2018 and was up 0.34% at 1.402 on the day as stock markets in Europe closed. It was also up 0.36% against the euro at 1.214.

Typically, the internationally-focused FTSE 100 falls when the pound strengthens, but it too closed the day up 6.87 points, or 0.1%, at 6624.02.

In Europe, the CAC 40 in Paris and the DAX 30 in Frankfurt both ended up 0.8%.

A slew of economic data for the UK failed to dampen spirits, including heavy falls in retail sales in January, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the first January deficit in 10 years and UK flash PMI data showing the economy remains in decline.

David Madden, financial analyst at CMC Markets UK, said: “Sterling has been in a solid upward trend recently, it came under a bit of pressure this morning in the wake of the dreadful UK retail sales numbers but the move was relatively small when you consider the awful reading.’’

In company news, the biggest announcement on a quiet Friday for corporatereporting was Natwest Group, formerly known as RBS.

Bosses revealed the bank made a pre-tax operating loss of £351 million in 2020, down from a profit of £4.2 billion a year earlier. The bank took a £3.2 billion impairment charge - accounting for expected loans that will fail due to the Covid-19 crisis.

But shareholders preferred to focus on the return of a dividend - paying up 3p-per-share or £364 million, with shares closing up 8.85p, or 5.2%, at 180.15p.

Elsewhere, Daily Mail and General Trust (DMGT) said it has agreed to sell its education technology arm for 410 million dollars (£293.4 million) in an effort to strengthen its finances during the pandemic.

The Hobsons’ Naviance and Intersect businesses will now be owned by US education technology firm Powerschool for about 320 million dollars.

Its college-focused Starfish business from the rest of the Hobsons stable goes to US firm EAB for 90 million dollars. Shares closed up 166p, or 21%, at 946p.

Another publisher, Future, revealed a profit upgrade due to high levels of online engagement in the four months to the end of January, although its Events division suffered. Shares closed up 20p at 1,922p.