IREIT Global on Wednesday (Nov 8) reported a rebound in occupancy rates at 90.4 per cent for the third quarter, up from 88.7 per cent in the previous quarter.

The Reit manager attributed this to the addition of European discount retailer B&M’s portfolio of 17 properties, all of which are fully occupied, as well as higher occupancy among its Spanish properties. 

Weighted average lease expiry fell slightly to 4.9 years, from five years in June.

Meanwhile, IReit Global’s aggregate leverage rose to 34.4 per cent from 33.1 per cent in the first half of the year, mainly due to new bank borrowings drawdown for the acquisition of B&M’s portfolio, which was completed on Sep 5, 2023.

However, the manager said there would be limited impact from recent rate hikes, given that 96.6 per cent of the borrowings have been hedged with interest rate swaps and interest rate caps. The Reit also has no near-term refinancing needs since all existing borrowings will mature only in 2026 and beyond.

Its priorities moving forward will be to manage its assets, in particular, refurbishing and repositioning its Berlin campus into a multi-let asset as well as improving occupancy at its Darmstadt campus by 2024.

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The manager said it will also continue to pursue asset acquisitions and/or seek M&A opportunities, recycle capital by divesting non-core assets and investing in good-quality assets, as well as diversify into the logistics sector.

It is also targeting an inclusion in the FTSE EPRA Nareit Global Real Estate Index by improving liquidity and free-float market cap.

The SGD-denominated units of IReit Global closed 1.4 per cent or S$0.005 lower at S$0.345 on Wednesday.