Irish real estate investment trust, Hibernia, has confirmed it is sitting on a €286m (£214m) acquisitions war chest partly funded from the disposal of around a third of the Dorville portfolio it bought from Ulster Bank a year ago.
In an interim management statement, covering the four months from the start of October, the firm — which earns its primary income from Dublin property — also claims there are still plenty of investment opportunities over the coming months, despite a sharp rise in commercial property prices in the capital.
“The fourth quarter of 2014 saw a high level of transaction activity in the market ahead of the ending of the Capital Gains Tax relief for property on 31 December,” reported Hibernia chief executive, Kevin Nowlan.
“Much of this activity was at the sub-institutional scale and subsequently not of interest to us,” he added. “The new year, however, has started positively, with a number of opportunities which we are actively assessing with our usual discipline.
“With the proceeds of our capital raised and with significant debt capacity, we are well positioned to take advantage of the acquisition opportunities we expect in the next 12 to 18 months.”
Part of that finance has come from its Dorville portfolio disposals. It contained 17 commercial properties, mostly around Dublin. “The sales of the Dorville non-core assets are progressing well,” explained the statement.
“To date sales have been agreed, contracted or completed for approximately one third of the assets with the aggregate proceeds of €10.3m (£7.6m) are more than 10 per cent above the allocated value at the time of acquisition.” It said to facilitate the ongoing sales process, the remaining non-core assets were being transferred into direct ownership.
The refurbishment of the 213 apartments in Block Three at Wyckham Point, Dundrum — which Hibernia took over last year — was on target and within budget, with the first flats available for rent this summer. The entire project was slated for completion by the end of 2015.
Work is also expected to start soon on Commerzbank House, situated in the heart of the Irish capital’s international financial services district, and which Hibernia bought two months ago for €90m (£67m).
“An agreement has been reached with Commerz Management Services regarding the early surrender of its lease as planned,” said the statement. “A surrender premium of €2.4m (£1.7m) has been received, equating to 12 months of rent, together with a further amount for dilapidations.”
Hibernia confirmed it intends to refurbish the Dublin 1 property to Grade A standard during 2015 before letting it as a headquarters or international office building.
