F&C ASSET MANAGEMENT PRESS RELEASE
16 October 2014 F&C Commercial Property Trust Proposed refinancing with L&G
F&C Commercial Property Trust Limited ('the Company') has today announced that it expects to enter into a new 10 year £260 million facility agreement with Legal & General Pensions Limited ('L&G'), substantially reflecting heads of terms agreed with L&G.
The Company will use the proceeds to refinance the repayment of its £230 million 5.23% secured bonds which mature on 30 June 2015 and a separate £30 million bank loan which matures on the same date. The early refinancing of these loans will ensure certainty of funds and also allows the Company to take advantage of the current availability of long term borrowings at attractive interest rates.
The Company is required by its Articles of Incorporation to propose an ordinary resolution for the continuation of the Company at its Annual General Meeting in 2015 and five yearly thereafter. In light of the proposed refinancing, the Board is proposing a resolution to remove this requirement and to replace it with an obligation to hold a continuation vote in 2024. An extraordinary general meeting to approve this amendment to the Company's Articles will take place on 7 November 2014.
Chris Russell, Chairman, F&C Commercial Property Trust, said: "The Board is pleased to have entered into heads of terms with L&G on what it believes are attractive terms, and providing greater flexibility than the bonds. The new loan will allow the Company to refinance the bonds ahead of their maturity, therefore removing any uncertainty as to the availability of funds. It is expected that the annual interest cost on the new loan will be significantly lower than the current interest rate on the bonds, thereby improving the Company's dividend cover.
The Company has performed strongly since its launch in 2005 and the Board believes that the property portfolio is well positioned to continue to out-perform the wider UK commercial property market over the medium and longer term. It remains one of the most highly rated companies in its sector. The Board expects that the refinancing of the bonds on the terms agreed with L&G will strengthen its position further."
Steve Boyle, Real Estate Lending Manager at LGIM commented: "At the outset, we listened to the Company's requirements and put together a package which allows it significant flexibility. This, allied to a competitive rate, enabled us to win this large mandate, which will take our overall lending book to over £1 billion in less than three years."
F&C Commercial Property Trust aims to provide Ordinary shareholders with an attractive level of income together with the potential for capital and income growth from investing in a diversified UK commercial property portfolio
Since its launch in March 2005 to 30 September 2014 the Company has generated a net asset value
('NAV') total return per share, with dividends reinvested, of 107.9%.
The share price total return, with dividends re-invested, over the period from launch to 30 September
2014 was 118.1%.
www.fandc.com
Based on the dividend of 6.0p per annum and the share price of 125.5p per share at 30 September
2014, the shares have a current dividend yield of 4.8%.
In accordance with the Company's investment policy, gearing (represented by borrowings as a percentage of total assets) may not exceed 50%. However, the Board's present intention is that the borrowings of the Group will be limited to a maximum of 35% of total assets at the time of borrowing.
Following the refinancing the Group's borrowings will comprise the £260 million L&G facility and a
£50 million loan from Barclays Bank plc. Based on the total assets of the Group as at 30 September
2014, such borrowings would represent approximately 25% of total assets.
F&C Commercial Property Trust is managed by Richard Kirby at F&C REIT in London, who has an award winning track record as lead fund manager
The Company is benchmarked against the Investment Property Databank ('IPD') Quarterly Universe
- ends -
Press enquiries: fandc.sc@fticonsulting.comTel: +44 (0) 20 3727 1888 Richard Janes Director, Communications Richard.janes@fandc.comTel: +44 (0) 20 7011 4298 Richard Kirby Investment Manager F&C REIT Asset Management plc rkirby@fandcreit.com Tel: +44 (0) 20 7016 3577 About F&C Investments
F&C is focused exclusively on managing money for its clients. It manages assets for a combination of insurance clients, institutional investors, intermediaries and private individuals. F&C invests across all major asset classes - equities, fixed income and property - and has specialist expertise in asset allocation, alternative investments, liability driven investments, multi-manager, private equity funds and Environmental Social and Governance (ESG) Investing. The F&C Group includes F&C REIT, a global real estate asset manager.
F&C has a strong footprint in the U.K. and the rest of Europe with assets under management of approximately £83 billion as at 30 June 2014. F&C has a rich heritage that dates back almost 150 years and can be traced back to the founding in 1868 of the Foreign & Colonial Investment Trust.
F&C is part of Bank of Montreal (BMO) Global Asset Management, a global investment manager with more than US$280 billion in assets under management as of 31 July 2014. BMO Global Asset Management is a part of BMO Financial Group (NYSE:BMO), a fully diversified financial services organisation with US$531 billion total assets and more than 45,000 employees as of April 30, 2014.
F&C REIT is an entrepreneurial, institutionally-partnered force in commercial property and manages a global portfolio worth £6.9 billion* on behalf of a wide range of individuals, professional investors, property trusts and institutional clients.
F&C REIT's investment team uses both detailed proprietary and external research, sophisticated forecasting and strategic analysis to find market inefficiencies and opportunities - across property sectors, countries, types and tenants.
www.fandc.com
F&C REIT offers a comprehensive, integrated range of real estate fund management services with a network of offices spanned across four countries: Germany (Munich), India (Mumbai), Ireland (Dublin), and the UK (London).
* As at 31.12.2013. Some assets under management are recorded at their acquisition cost, reflecting the basis on which income is generated for F&C REIT by these assets.
Disclaimer
Past performance should not be seen as an indication of future performance. The value of investments and income derived from them can go down as well as up as a result of market or currency movements and investors may not get back the original amount invested. The information, opinions estimates or forecasts contained in this document were obtained from sources reasonably believed to be reliable and are subject to change at any time. F&C Group Companies may from time to time deal in investments mentioned herein on behalf of their clients. The source of information in all graphs is F&C unless otherwise stated. F&C Management Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority FRN: 119230 F&C Management Limited is a member of the F&C Group. The F&C Group is wholly owned by BMO Global Asset Management (Europe) Limited, which is itself a wholly owned subsidiary of the Bank of Montreal. F&C, the F&C logo, REO and the 'reo' logo are registered trademarks of F&C Asset Management plc. F&C Investments and the F&C Investments logo are trademarks of F&C Management Limited. © Copyright F&C Management Limited 2014. All Rights Reserved. Neither this document nor any part of it may be reproduced by any party whether by photocopying or storing in any medium by electronic means or otherwise without the prior approval of F&C Management Limited.
F&C Management Ltd accepts no liability in respect of the information or any views expressed herein which may be subject to change without notice at any time.
www.fandc.com
|
distributed by
|
