Third Quarter Company Update

Continued progress in disposing of a minimum of 5% of our portfolio in FY20

• So far in FY20, disposals completed, exchanged or under offer total £70.3 million, at a blended NIY of 4.9%; completed disposals on terms in-line with March 2019 valuation
• Completed disposals in FY20 to date total £39.3 million across all asset types, at a blended NIY of 5.6%, with a further £31.0 million of disposals exchanged or under offer, at a blended NIY of 3.8%

  ​

Disposal proceeds recycled into high yielding acquisitions across retail parks and community pubs

• So far in FY20, acquisitions total £163.1 million (NewRiver share: £92.6 million), at a blended NIY of 10.1%
• Poole Retail Park acquired in October 2019 in a 10% investment with BRAVO for £44.7 million (NewRiver share: £4.5 million), representing a NIY of 8.0%
• Sprucefield Retail Park, Lisburn acquired in December 2019 for £40.0 million, representing a NIY of 8.7%; acquisition to generate £3.7 million of annualised Net Property Income for NewRiver and provides opportunity to extract further value through active asset management and the disposal of parcels of land for development
• Bravo Inns acquired in December 2019 for £17.9 million, representing an EBITDA multiple of 6.8x; transaction expected to generate annualised outlet EBITDA of £2.6 million across the 44 pubs and grows our exposure to the highly profitable operator manager pub model

  ​

Retail portfolio delivered robust operational metrics, as platform signs fourth asset management mandate

• Retail occupancy remained high at 96.1% (September 2019: 95.6%)
• 152,000 sq ft of leasing activity completed; long term deals on terms 3.0% ahead of previous passing rent and 2.5% ahead of ERV; includes a letting to The Gym Group in Victoria Retail Park, Beverley, one of the brand’s first “small-box” sites, which further increases our exposure to the growing low-cost gym sub-sector
• Affordable average retail rent of £12.59 psf (September 2019: £12.49 psf)
• Tenant mix remains well-diversified with our largest tenant, Sainsbury’s, representing just 2.3% of gross income
• Like-for-like footfall across shopping centres outperformed UK benchmark by 60 bps, with a decline of -1.9%
• In November 2019, signed fourth third-party asset management mandate with Knowsley Council to become strategic asset manager for Kirkby Town Centre; agreement includes fees for acquisition due-diligence, asset management and a potential development monitoring fee

  ​

Hawthorn Leisure: continued like-for-like EBITDA growth per pub, supported by solid Christmas trading

• Like-for-like EBITDA growth per pub of +4.9% in FY20 to date, as the portfolio continued to benefit from the scale-based synergies secured in FY19 and a solid Christmas; rate of growth expected to moderate following annualisation of Hawthorn Leisure integration in January 2020
• Pub occupancy remained high at 97.9% (September 2019: 96.7%) across our 698 community pubs
• 26^th convenience store (“c-store”) to be handed over to the Co-op this week at site of the Sea View Inn in Poole, triggering £275,000 performance receipt from the Co-op; nine c-stores sold in FY20 to date

​​

Solid performance underpinned by conservative financial policies and a fully unsecured balance sheet

• Third quarter ordinary dividend held at 5.4 pence per share (Q3 FY19: 5.4 pence); dividend for FY20 to date held at 16.2 pence per share (FY19 to Q3: 16.2 pence)
• Following acquisitions, pro forma LTV of 41% (based on September 2019 valuations); net borrowings expected to reduce as disposal programme progresses; guidance remains for LTV to be below 40%
• In November 2019, Fitch Ratings affirmed NewRiver’s IDR at ‘BBB’ with Stable Outlook and corporate bond rating at ‘BBB+’; an endorsement of our conservative balance sheet and financial policies, and resilient business model

Tom Loughran, Head of Investor Relations (NewRiver)
+44 (0)20 3328 5800

Lucy Mitchell, Director of Communications & PR (NewRiver)                       
+44 (0)20 3328 5800     

Gordon Simpson/James Thompson (Finsbury)                                                 
+44 (0)20 7251 3801

NewRiver REIT plc (‘NewRiver’) is a leading Real Estate Investment Trust specialising in buying, managing and developing essential retail and leisure assets throughout the UK.

Our £1.1 billion portfolio covers 9 million sq ft and comprises 33 community shopping centres, 24 conveniently located retail parks and around 700 community pubs. We hand-picked our assets to deliberately focus on occupiers providing essential goods and services, and avoid structurally challenged sub-sectors such as department stores, mid-market fashion and casual dining. This focus, combined with our affordable rents and desirable locations, delivers sustainable and growing returns for our shareholders, while our active approach to asset management and inbuilt 2.6 million sq ft development pipeline provide further opportunities to extract value from our portfolio.

NewRiver has a Premium Listing on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange (ticker: NRR). Visit www.nrr.co.uk for further information.

LEI Number: 2138004GX1VAUMH66L31