LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - Profits at business and industrial parks developer Sirius Real Estate surged by nearly a third in the year ended 31 March, helping the company to increase dividends for the tenth straight year.

Pre-tax profit rose by 32.4% to €115.2m, mainly as a result of a €12.4m valuation gain in 2024 compared to a €9.8m deficit in the previous financial year.

Funds from operations (FFO) were up 7.9% at €110.2m, while like-for-like rent roll grew 7.2% to €188.7m, driven by continued strong organic growth and occupier demand in Germany and the UK.

Sirius, whose investment properties were valued at €2.21bn by the end of the period, made €157.8m of acquisitions and €59.7m of disposals during the year.

It ended the year with €214.5m cash in the bank, providing capacity for further acquisitions and investment, with recent refinancings meaning that just 2.9% of total debt is expiring within the next two years.

The company announced a second-half dividend payout of 3.05 cents per share, helping lift the total dividend for the year by 6.5% to 6.05 cents.

"Sirius has delivered another very positive set of annual results, with a strong operational performance driving FFO, valuation and dividend growth in what represents our tenth year of annualised rental growth above 5% and dividend increases," said chief executive Andrew Coombs.

"Looking ahead, our outlook remains positive [...] There remain many levers we can pull to unlock value and grow occupancy and rental income within our current portfolio through our successful asset management programme, and we remain well positioned to fuel our accretive pipeline, supporting our next phase of growth and deliver attractive returns for shareholders."

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