NAV continues to fall as BCPT prepares outcome of strategic review

The outcome of the strategic review of Balanced Commercial Property Trust is expected to be published this quarter as the fund continues to sell off its office assets. The trust, managed by Columbia Threadneedle, this morning updated on trading, with its NAV falling from £752.5m at 31 March to £737.3m at 30 June. The decline was driven by a decrease in the value of its property portfolio of £14.6m. BCPT said the performance of its portfolio had been dragged down by its office assets, which saw a capital return of -9.6% amid continued weakening in investor sentiment. It said that this was particularly notable in the regional office segment. Outside of offices, BCPT said its portfolio was “generating encouraging capital performance”, with its retail warehousing assets delivering capital growth over the quarter of 3.3%. The trust announced a strategic review of the business in April which included looking at continuing attempts to narrow its trading discount, selling its portfolio, changing investment strategy, winding down the business and selling the company. The board of BCPT said it had received interest in its assets from a “number of credible third parties”  and it continues to “pursue actively third party interest, alongside considering a other options, such as a managed wind down”, as part of the review.