Picton moves to cut office exposure

Picton Property Income has said a repositioning strategy has helped it to reduce its exposure to the office sector.  In a trading update for the second quarter of the year, Picton said like-for-like portfolio valuation was up by 0.4% over the quarter, with industrial, warehouse and logistics assets proving most resilient. Office exposure has been cut through completion of part-vacant asset disposal, 2% ahead of the March 2024 valuation. In Cardiff, the company is offloading a vacant office building that will be turned into student accommodation, while at Charlotte Terrace, W14, the company has secured planning consent for six residential units on office space that is currently vacant. Chief executive Michael Morris said: “It is encouraging that, at a portfolio level, we have delivered a positive valuation movement for the quarter, the first since June 2022. We have also been able to improve occupancy, with our industrial, warehouse and logistics assets continuing to support income growth. “During the period we have reduced our office exposure through our alternative use repositioning strategy and used the proceeds to repay floating rate debt to reduce financing costs. We continue to invest in our portfolio, future proofing and upgrading assets to unlock value.”