Dublin property market lifts Hibernia Reit in third quarter

A record takeup of Dublin office space in 2017 helped boost lettings at Hibernia Reit in the third quarter, cutting 3 per cent from its place office vacancy rate.

The company also confirmed it had disposed of two assets in Hanover Street East and Lime Street for €12 million.

In a trading statement, Hibernia REIT said it had made good progress letting the available space in its portfolio, with vacancy at its in-place offices standing at 7 per cent. That figure is set to fall to 2 per cent if the company can lease all space currently under offer.

In the wider Dublin market, a total of 3.5 million sq ft of office space was leased in 2017, with a new quarterly high of 1.6m sq. ft. of take-up reached in the final quarter of 2017.

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The company sold three assets for a total of €35.8 million, including the sale of the Chancery, Dublin 8, for €23.8 million

Earlier this month, Hibernia Reit said it had bought 77 Sir John Rogersons Quay for €28.7 million, with an agreement with a subsidiary of International Workplace Group plc (“Ito lease the entire building for a 25 year term.

The company said it had net debt of €182 million at the end of December, with cash and undrawn facilities of €263 million. After taking into account the committed development spend, disposals and acquisitions already announced, plus a planned repayment of a loan facility earlier this month, cash and undrawn facilities totalled over €140 million.

"Our two committed developments remain on track for completion in the second half of 2018 and we are working hard on progressing our exciting pipeline of future developments," said chief executive Kevin Nowlan. "With a favourable letting market, a strong balance sheet to exploit opportunities and an experienced team, we are optimistic for the future."