Workspace Group's quarterly rent roll grows but occupancy flat

24th Jan 2014 07:52

- Rent roll rises 5.6 per cent- Occupancy flat at 90.7 per cent- Progress on refurbishment programmeWorkspace Group, which provides commercial property to let including offices, posted a 1.8 per cent rise in like-for-like rental roll to 46.5m pounds in the quarter through December.Like-for-like rent roll grew 5.6% in the nine months since March 31st, according to a trading update on Friday.Rent per square feet came to £14.65, up 1.9% like-for-like in the quarter and 4.6% in the nine-month period. Occupancy remained stable at 90.7%. In November, the group purchased nursing home Verulam House in London for £18.1m in an effort to expand its portfolio in areas where there is strong customer demand. "The strong momentum of our business continues with good growth in like-for-like rent roll and pricing reflecting the strength of demand for the tailored space and services we provide at our properties in London," said Chief Executive Jamie Hopkins."We are making good progress on our refurbishment and redevelopment programme. We are currently achieving better than expected results at our completed refurbishments, with the launch of more new and refurbished centres to come during 2014. We are also seeing strong demand from residential developers at sites where we have obtained residential planning consents."Shares fell 1.59% to 558p at 08:08 on Friday.RD