Derwent London PLC

LSE:DLN

Earnings Call Transcript 2022-Q3

[Operator]

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Derwent London 2022 Q3 Business Update. My name is Eugenia, and I will be the operator for your call this morning. [Operator Instructions] I will now hand you over to Paul Williams, Chief Executive. Please go ahead.

[P. Williams, executive]

Thank you very much. Good morning, everybody, and welcome to Derwent London Q3 2022 Business Update. It has certainly been an interesting few weeks since we last presented, but having said that, London remains really busy.

The West End has been buzzing for some time, and the East has been catching up since the summer. We've made good progress on lettings at rent well above ERV and have made significant disposals of over GBP 200 million in the year-to-date above book value, taking our leverage even lower.

Now the flight to quality continues. Occupier demand remains strong for the right buildings as businesses are firmly engaging with their longer-term occupational strategies. We've let GBP 9 million of space so far this year, strongly beating ERV by 13%, and this includes nearly GBP 2 million of lettings in Q3, 28% above ERV.

We have further space under offer and ongoing negotiations across the portfolio, including our recently completed projects. The last few weeks of political uncertainty has inevitably led to a slowdown in decision-making, but the number of active inquiries and viewings remain encouraging.

Occupier requirements continue to evolve. They require more from their real estate and more from their landlords. Amenity, whether within their space, the building or the wider area, is becoming key. And that is why I'm excited by our provision of shared amenity space of DL/78 in Fitzrovia and our commitment to opening a second lounge in our Old Street village. This has been extremely well received, and it forms an important part of our occupiers' decision-making.

Turning now to our retail. Following the opening of the long-awaited lease supply, footfall and consumer spend in the West End continued to pick up and recover. At Soho Place, we are seeing this translate into an increasing number of conversations for this vibrant retail location.

The recent opening of the theater at Soho Place and the Outernet opposite should both have a further positive impact.

Now to vacancy. And as I often say, it is important to be aware of averages. Whilst overall London office vacancy remains elevated according to CBRE, the city at 12% is more than 3x West End at sub-4%.

Looking further beneath the surface, the availability of prime space in the West End is even more constrained. Our own EPRA vacancy rate is relatively unchanged against H1 at 6.9%.

Excellent construction progress is being made at our 2 on-site developments at 25 Baker Street and Network, and each is on program for delivery in 2025.

ESG is the top of occupier requirements. We have set ourselves stretching Science Based Targets for energy reduction across the portfolio, and I'm pleased to say that we remain on course to achieve our targets again in 2022. As a reminder about EPCs, our portfolio is already 2023 compliant and nearly 65% compliant for 2030.

Given the recent volatility in financial markets, investment activity has understandably slowed. However, there is still demand for the right buildings where good funding is in place. Future opportunities may emerge at more attractive pricing. And with the strength of our balance sheet, we are in a good position.

So in summary, the flight to quality is here to stay. I am encouraged by the strength of the pre-letting market, whereas a number of deals have been signed in recent weeks. And there is a clear recentralization under way, an endorsement for London as well as our own portfolio. Derwent is well known for providing the right product, and this has been recognized by the BCO with 80 Charlotte Street recently winning the National Commercial Workplace of the Year Award.

We are well positioned with a great portfolio. We have the financial capacity to deliver our exciting pipeline of net-zero projects. With over 400,000 square feet currently on site, it's what we expect will be a supply-constrained market.

Thank you. And I will now hand it back to the operator for any questions.

[Operator]

[Operator Instructions] At the moment, there are no questions from the call.

[P. Williams, executive]

Well, thank you, everyone, for listening in. If you have any questions, you want to phone any of the team here today, we're all around: Damian, Nigel, Emily and Robbie. So if you do have further questions, please feel free to call us. Thank you for your support, and we look forward to staying in touch.