Ediston sits on cash as it waits for prices to fall

Ediston Property Investment Company is sitting on its cash as it waits for retail warehouse prices to fall. The REIT pivoted away from offices and leisure properties over the year to the end of September, selling four offices and two leisure assets for £69.5m. The sales built up its retail warehouse holdings from 74.1% of its portfolio to 100%. However, it has been cautious about reinvesting the proceeds, preferring to wait until retail warehouse prices fall further. Chairman William Hill said: “The decision to delay the reinvestment of the sales proceeds from the office and leisure disposals has undoubtedly put the company in a better position to take advantage of the current market uncertainty and setback in asset valuations.” He added: “We can expect some interesting and attractive opportunities to arise over the coming months, given the expected further falls in market valuations.” Ediston said there was “no specific timetable” for reinvesting, adding it “will be led by opportunity and to the extent that the market has repriced”. As a result, Ediston will need to pay an uncovered dividend, with just 81.2% covered for 2022. In the meantime, the immediate focus is to protect the NAV per share, which has grown from 89.6p to 94.9p and to reduce the impact of the uncovered dividend.   To send feedback, e-mail piers.wehner@eg.co.uk or tweet @PiersWehner or @EGPropertyNews