High street retail gains help lift values for AEW

AEW UK REIT has posted a lift in its portfolio valuation, driven in part by rises in its high street retail assets. In a stock market update covering the three months to the end of 2024, the company said NAV had lifted from £172.7m to £174.3m over the quarter, with a 1.2% rise in like-for-like valuations and a NAV total return of 2.73%. The most sizeable valuation gains were seen in the company’s high street retail assets, valuations for which rose by 2.6% over the three months. Henry Butt, assistant portfolio manager, said: “We are pleased with the growth in NAV per share and the dividend being covered by EPRA earnings for a third consecutive quarter, which continues to evidence the earnings accretion produced by the company’s programme of ongoing asset management initiatives through income generation and void cost mitigation. “Rental income has been buoyed by the billing of annual turnover rent for Next in Bromley, and Poundland in Coventry, while the company’s ‘bottom line’ continues to benefit from a stabilised portfolio and tenant base.”