Ediston Property Investment Company

EDISTON Property Investment Company, known as EPIC, has had a very different time over the past year, but the shares now look like a bargain. Midas recommended the stock in June 2018, when the price was £1.11. By March of last year, it had plummeted to 45p and big investors were clamouring to know how EPIC boss Calum Bruce was going to persuade tenants to pay the rent.

Two-thirds of the company’s properties are retail parks, while most of the rest are office blocks. Many market watchers considered that a pretty disastrous combination, but they have been proved wrong. The group collected 92 per cent of rent owed from last March to this, the figure rose to 95 per cent in the six months to this March and is likely to be even higher when Epic reports quarterly figures next month.

Epic has benefited from several clever management choices. First, edge-of-town retail parks have fared far better through the pandemic than the high street. Second, Epic’s tenants include high-performing businesses such as B&M, B&Q and Pets at Home. And third, the company focuses on areas outside the SouthEast, including Scotland, Wales and the Midlands.

The firm also set up a special team when the pandemic erupted, which talked directly to tenants and worked on plans to keep both sides happy.

Today, discussions with tenants are less about paying their dues and more about taking on new space or extending leases. Later this week, the group opens a new retail park in Haddington, East Lothian, already pre-let to stores including Aldi, Iceland and Costa. Further expansion is in Bruce’s sights so new deals are likely in the coming months.

Epic pays a monthly dividend, recently increased by 25 per cent to 0.417p, equating to 5p for the year. Further substantial increases are expected as the recovery continues.