Green Reit close to agreeing key commercial lettings in Dublin

Green Real Estate Investment Trust (Reit) is close to letting a number of key properties in Dublin as demand for commercial space remains strong.

Shares in the company closed up 2.7 per cent in Dublin on Monday after it reported that the total value of its properties rose 11 per cent to €1.38 billion in the 12 months to June 30th.

Stephen Vernon, executive chairman of Green Property Reit Ventures, confirmed that the company was in talks with potential tenants for One Molesworth Street in Dublin.

The company recently agreed to let half the building to British lender Barclays for a rent of €2.4 million a year .

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Since the end of June, Green has agreed to let a new building in Horizon Logistics Park, close to Dublin Airport, to a luxury-goods retailer for €1.5 million a year.

Overall, it signed new leases with a total annual contracted rent of €10.4 million in the 12 months to the end of June. That included the letting of Building H in Central Park in Leopardstown in Dublin to AIB for €4.8 million.

It also completed and fully let a building at 32 Molesworth Street in the centre of the capital.

Horizon Logistics Park

It has begun work on Building I, a 9,000 sq m office block in Central Park. It is continuing to develop Horizon Logistics Park, where it completed a fourth unit and began work on two other pre-let buildings.

Green will ultimately have 300 acres of land available to it at Horizon. The park is located at a pivotal point near the airport, Dublin Port Tunnel and the main road to Belfast. Green's existing tenants there include DHL, DFS and Kuehne + Nagel.

The company is proposing to pay investors a dividend of five cent a share, 9 per cent more than the 4.6 cent they received in 2016.

Green said profit after tax fell 11 per cent to €129.8 million during the 12-month period, its financial year.

The fall in profit was down to the fact that the gain on its existing investment properties was lower than last year at €94.5 million.

Pat Gunne, chief executive of Green Property Reit Ventures, said the Irish market continued to provide the company with opportunities.

"The strong levels of foreign investment into Ireland, demonstrated by the ongoing success of IDA Ireland in attracting international projects, is one of the key factors encouraging us to expand our existing development programme," he said.

Brexit

Speaking after the results, Mr Gunne pointed out that Green’s focus, offices and logistics left it in a good position to benefit as investors shifted operations to the Republic from the UK ahead of Brexit. “It just so happens that we are in a sweet spot,” he said.

Green’s statement noted that the Irish economy continued to perform well. Unemployment dropped to 6.3 per cent in August, down from its 2012 peak of 15.2 per cent.

Development agency IDA Ireland said job approvals in the first half of the year were up 22 per cent on the same period in 2016.

However, Mr Gunne acknowledged that the UK’s planned exit from the UK could potentially cause problems for the Republic.