Drum Income Plus Real Estate Investment Trust posts 9.1 per cent dividend rise

The whole of the dividend will be designated as an interim property income distribution, and will be paid on 23 February 2018 to shareholders on the register as at 9 February 2018, the firm said.

The ex-dividend date will be 8 February 2018.

The DRIP REIT Board, which comprises John Evans (Chairman), formerly of Aberforth Partners, Hugh Little (Chair of Audit Committee), formerly of Aberdeen Asset Management, and Alan Robertson (Director) of JLL, said it is targeting fully-covered aggregate quarterly dividends of at least 6.0p per share in respect of the year ending 30 September 2018.

At the current share price of 96.5p this would represent an annualised dividend yield of 6.22 per cent.

DRIP REIT is an income-focused real estate fund targeting regional commercial property assets, principally in the office, retail and industrial sectors where there is an opportunity to increase income and capital returns via entrepreneurial proactive asset management and risk-controlled development.

Drum Real Estate Investment Management’s managing director, Bryan Sherriff, said: “We are fully engaged in delivering numerous value-added opportunities across the assets and are now paying a dividend ahead of what was stated in the initial prospectus.

“The asset management ethos is already delivering tangible results with significant valuation uplift across the portfolio in excess of £2 million. Our experienced management team will continue to follow an asset management strategy that will drive rental growth and maximise additional income opportunities, offering investors an attractive blend of income return and capital growth.”