Sirius FY results expected to come in line with expectations

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In a trading statement, Sirius said rental income of the pre-acquisitions portfolio had increased by 5.6% to EUR43.6 million from EUR41.3 million with the average rental rate across the pre-acquisitions portfolio increasing to EUR4.58 per square meters from EUR4.46 per square meters.

Sirius has re-introduced dividend payments with the stated objective of paying out 65% of funds from operations. The company paid a 0.3c dividend in August 2014 and 0.77c per share in December 2014.

"This has been a very successful period for the business and our task now is to continue this positive momentum," Andrew Coombs, CEO of Sirius Real Estate, said.

"This means continuing to grow the rent roll at improved average rental rates and higher occupancy through both good asset management and the extensive capex programme which is focused on approximately 50% of the current vacant space," Coombs said.

Demand for both Sirius' conventional space and its flexible workspace solutions remained strong and the group was pleased with progress already being made on the new properties acquired this year, he said.

"Whilst we remain on target to reduce the group's loan-to-value ratio to at least 40% in the near term, our ability to access debt at very low cost will also have a significant impact on our returns to shareholders and accordingly we are focused on improving the terms of the group's debt financing packages," Coombs said.