Custodian Property Income REIT plc: Active asset management and diversified portfolio continue to drive rental growth, underpinning fully covered dividend
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Custodian Property Income REIT plc (CREI)
2 September 2026
Custodian Property Income REIT plc
(“Custodian Property Income REIT” or “the Company”)
Active asset management and diversified portfolio continue to drive rental growth, underpinning fully covered dividend
Custodian Property Income REIT (LSE: CREI), which seeks to deliver an enhanced income return by investing in a diversified portfolio of smaller, UK regional properties with strong income characteristics, today provides a trading update for the quarter ended 30 June 2026 (“Q1” or the “Quarter”).
Commenting on the trading update, Richard Shepherd-Cross, Managing Director of the Investment Manager, said: “The Company has delivered another positive quarter of stable valuations and a fully covered dividend, which continues to offer investors an attractive yield of c.7%. Performance remains underpinned by rental growth, with Custodian Property Income REIT’s portfolio now showing a reversionary potential of 15%, following a further 1% increase in the like-for-like ERV. We expect to capture this potential through our asset management approach and upcoming lease events.
“Despite ongoing economic and geopolitical instability, the occupier market has remained extremely resilient with rental growth evident across all real estate sectors within our diversified portfolio, including on the high street and in regional offices, which is a positive shift in momentum from previous periods. There is a significant disconnect between the strong underlying fundamentals of UK real estate and current investor sentiment, where persistent discounts to NAV and increased levels of consolidation and takeover activity indicate that the widening window of opportunity remains underappreciated. Importantly, our diversified portfolio is well positioned to benefit from the upside of both the continued real estate recovery and the gradually improving sentiment towards listed markets.
“Looking ahead, we will continue to pursue our hands-on approach to asset management, targeting opportunities to invest in the existing portfolio which will be accretive to earnings and deliver sustainable dividend growth for shareholders, while actively exploring opportunities to scale through selective corporate acquisitions.”
Strong leasing activity continues to drive rental growth and support a fully covered dividend
Resilient valuations across the Company’s £671.6m diversified portfolio
Prudent debt levels
Dividends
The Company paid an interim dividend per share of 1.5p on Friday 28 August 2026 relating to FY27 Q1 to shareholders on the register on 7 August 2026, fully covered by EPRA earnings and designated as a property income distribution (“PID”).
The Board is targeting a dividend per share of no less than 6.0p for the year ending 31 March 2027. This target dividend is in line with the Company’s goal of being the REIT of choice to investors seeking high and stable dividends from well-diversified UK real estate.
The Company’s unaudited NAV increased to £489.0m, or approximately 100.0p per share, at 30 June 2026:
The unaudited NAV attributable to the ordinary shares of the Company is calculated under International Financial Reporting Standards and incorporates the independent portfolio valuation at 30 June 2026 and net income for the Quarter.
The movement in unaudited NAV reflects the payment of an interim dividend per share of 1.5p during the Quarter, but as usual this does not include any provision for the dividend of 1.5p per share for the Quarter under review paid on Friday 28 August 2026.
Unlike the consistently hot weather, the summer has provided a mixed economic picture with moderate growth, relatively low unemployment, easing labour pressures and lower inflation than in recent years. In contrast there has been weakness in the service sector and reduced construction activity as high financing costs and ongoing geopolitical risks continue to act as a constraint to consumer and investor sentiment.
This macro-economic backdrop has led to a slowing of investment activity in commercial investment property, which is exacerbated by the current longer-term gilt rate hovering around 5%. Cushman and Wakefield reported that the first half of 2026 saw £11.3bn of investment activity, 7% down in Q2 versus Q1, and 24% down compared to H1 2025.
The expectation that a decrease in interest rates would reignite the property market now feels like a distant memory. Instead, investors will need to adhere to conventional asset management and rental growth to drive long-term, income focused, total returns from real estate, which resonates strongly with Custodian Property Income REIT’s strategy.
The challenging economic and geopolitical environment is at odds with the performance of the occupational property market, where positive rental growth is a feature of all the main commercial real estate sectors and is reflected in our asset management initiatives below. This is a shift from previous quarters where, for some time, rental growth has been absent on the high street and in regional offices. Custodian Property Income REIT’s portfolio recorded like-for-like ERV growth through the year to 31 March 2026 of 3.3%, and a further 1.0% in the three months to 30 June 2026. The reversionary potential[9] of the portfolio now stands at 15%, following growth in the ERV from £55.6m to £56.1m, during the Quarter.
Notwithstanding some seasonal, post year-end weakness in the share price, where dividend yields have drifted out to 7.4%, the dividend yield based on the three-month average daily closing price of c.86p has been 7.0%. We believe this represents an attractive entry point for shareholders to secure a long-term investment in real assets that offer downside protection in an inflationary environment, with provable rental growth and earnings growth potential.
Custodian Capital Limited, the Investment Manager, has remained focused on active asset management during the Quarter, completing:
Further details of these asset management initiatives are shown below:
Renewals/regears
New leases
Rent reviews
Two rent reviews at an average 22% ahead of previous passing rent at:
The positive impact of these asset management initiatives has been partially offset by the Administration of the Company’s tenant at an industrial site in Grangemouth, which vacated the three-unit site in May 2026. We expect each unit to be re-let separately which should lead to aggregate annual passing rent increasing over the previous £438k.
Energy Performance Certificate (“EPC”) regulations
The government recently announced expected updates to the Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards (“MEES”) for commercial properties in England and Wales in June 2026, requiring buildings over 1,000 square metres to have a minimum EPC rating of a ‘B’ by 2031, and buildings under 1,000 square metres to be at a minimum ‘E’ rating to be compliant. The Company’s portfolio is 83% compliant (as at 25 August 2026), with a further 6% exempt from the requirements, with the remaining c11% of EPC’s being actively targeted to reach full compliance with new regulations in advance of 2031.
Borrowings
At 30 June 2026, the Company had £185.0m of debt drawn comprising:
At 30 June 2026, the Company’s borrowing facilities were:
Variable rate borrowing
Fixed rate borrowing
Each facility has a discrete security pool, comprising a number of individual properties, over which the relevant lender has security and covenants:
At 30 June 2026, the investment property portfolio was split between the main commercial property sectors, in line with the Company’s objective to maintain a suitably balanced investment portfolio. Sector weightings are shown below:
The industrial sector £nil valuation movement is the result of the Grangemouth tenant failure (£1.0m) offsetting other increases due to rental growth.
For details of all properties in the portfolio please see custodianreit.com/property-portfolio.
- Ends -
Further information:
Further information regarding the Company can be found at the Company's website custodianreit.com or please contact:
Notes to Editors
Custodian Property Income REIT plc is a UK real estate investment trust, which listed on the main market of the London Stock Exchange on 26 March 2014. Its portfolio comprises properties predominantly let to institutional grade tenants throughout the UK and is principally characterised by smaller, regional, core/core-plus properties.
The Company offers investors the opportunity to secure an attractive level of income with the potential for capital growth through a diversified portfolio of UK commercial real estate comprising principally smaller, regional, core/core-plus properties, accessed via a closed-ended listed fund.
Custodian Capital Limited is the discretionary investment manager of the Company.
For more information visit custodianreit.com and custodiancapital.com. [1] European Public Real Estate Association. [2] EPRA EPS: Profit after tax, excluding depreciation and net gains on investment property, divided by weighted average number of shares in issue (excluding treasury shares) during the Quarter. [3] Based on 81.2p share price as at 1 September 2026. [4] Adjusting for property acquisitions, disposals and capital expenditure. [5] The acquisition of Grove Court Properties (Holdings) Limited (“Grove Court”) and Scorpion Properties Limited (“Scorpion”). [6] NAV per share movement including dividends paid during the Quarter on shares (excluding treasury shares) in issue at 31 March 2026. [7] Gross borrowings less cash (excluding restricted cash) divided by property portfolio and solar panel valuations. [8] A quarterly interim dividend of 1.5p per share was paid during the Quarter, relating to FY26 Q4, on shares in issue on the associated 1 May 2026 record date. [9] Expected future increase in rents once reset to market rate, calculated as estimated rental value as a proportion of passing rent.
[10] Comprises drive-through restaurants, car showrooms, trade counters, gymnasiums, restaurants, residential and leisure units.
Dissemination of a Regulatory Announcement that contains inside information in accordance with the Market Abuse Regulation (MAR), transmitted by EQS Group. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. View original content: EQS News |
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| ISIN: | GB00BJFLFT45 |
| Category Code: | QRF |
| TIDM: | CREI |
| LEI Code: | 2138001BOD1J5XK1CX76 |
| Sequence No.: | 441670 |
| EQS News ID: | 2392028 |
| End of Announcement | EQS News Service |
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