Ires Reit reports pre-tax profits of €14.8m in first half

Irish Residential Properties Reit (Ires Reit) has reported a pre-tax profit of €14.8 million for the six months to the end of June, on the back of increasing monthly rents and high occupancy levels.

The group acquired a further 362 apartments for the total purchase price of €110.6 million in the six months to the end of June, bringing its total number of apartments to 1,566.

The most recent acquisitions include Rockbrook in Sandyford, Dublin 18 and Tyrone Court in Inchicore, Dublin 8, consisting of 270 and 92 apartments respectively.

At the end of June, Ires Reit had invested a total of approximately €426 million across 12 locations in the Dublin area.

The group said its property portfolio was valued at €447.2 million at June end, with total net borrowings of €27.8 million.

In an interim report published this morning, the group said its property portfolio had an annualised passing rent of €27.2 million.

The average monthly rent for the group increased to €1,364 per apartment as of 30 June, up from €1,250 per apartment during December 2014 and €1,070 per apartment as in June 2014.

Ires Reit had basic earnings per share of 4.7 cent for the six months to 30 June 2015. An interim dividend of €969,000 (48 cent per share) was paid on 31 March 2015 to shareholders on record as at 20 February 2015.

Ires Reit chief executive officer David Ehrlich said the company's portfolio continues to perform "extremely well", with 10 to 15 per cent rental growth on renewals and turnover, virtual full occupancy, and net operating margins over 80 per cent.

“Given current planning guidelines and the expense of new construction, the costs of building housing makes it difficult for the severe shortage of accommodation to be rectified over the next several years at least,” he added.

He said the company has existing properties with between 600 to 650 apartments to be built, which it anticipates being developed in the near future.

He added that the group has a “significant pipeline” of future acquisitions available through Nama and private off market opportunities.

In March 2015 Ires Reit raised gross proceeds of €215 million through the issuance of 215,000,000 ordinary shares.