LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - The PRS REIT said in an update on Tuesday that its portfolio was continuing to perform strongly in the third quarter of its financial year, with high occupancy and robust rent collection, as it neared the completion of its delivery programme.
As of 31 March, the real estate investment trust had 5,443 completed homes in its portfolio, up from 5,308 a year earlier.

Estimated annual rental value for the completed homes rose to £69.6m, from £62.6m.

The FTSE 250 company said it has only 35 homes remaining in its development pipeline, representing £0.4m in additional rental value, which were expected to be completed by the end of June.

Physical occupancy at the end of the period stood at 96%, with a further 69 homes reserved, bringing effective occupancy to 97%.

Rent collection for the quarter was 101% of rent invoiced, consistent with the prior year.

Like-for-like rental growth on stabilised sites was 10% over the 12 months to March, slightly below the 12% recorded in the prior year, while affordability remained stable at 23%, well below the Office for National Statistics' 30% upper threshold.

Total arrears net of bad debt provisions was about £1m, unchanged from the previous quarter and considered low relative to the scale of the portfolio.

The firm said the number of contracted but not yet completed homes fell to 35 from 170 a year earlier, reflecting the near completion of the company's development phase.

Its board said it expected to declare a third-quarter dividend in early May.

Dividends declared in the first half of the year totalled 2.1p per share, up from 2p a year earlier, and were 105% covered by EPRA earnings.

Discussions were meanwhile continuing as part of the strategic review and formal sale process initiated earlier in the financial year, with several parties engaged in talks regarding a potential acquisition of the company.

The board said it was focussed on maximising value for shareholders, and expected to provide further updates by the end of June.

At 0855 BST, shares in the PRS REIT were up 0.81% at 111.7p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.

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