Confidence and dividend maintained as housing specialist relies on strong foundations

Housing specialist Sigma Capital, which is focused on the private rented sector, remains “very confident” about its future despite the impact of the coronavirus restrictions.

The Manchester-based group still has its eye on opportunities, believing the market fundamentals will remain in its favour.

Graham Barnet

Graham Barnet, chief executive of Sigma, said: “There is a structural undersupply of high quality family rental homes across the UK, and our assets continue to perform very well.

“We remain very confident of Sigma’s prospects for future growth, and continue to assess growth opportunities.”

It increased its pre-tax profits by 7%, to £13.0m, with revenues up 11% to £13.9m.

It attributed its strong financial performance to “accelerating housing delivery for The PRS REIT”, which it launched three years ago and is the only UK-quoted REIT wholly dedicated to investment in new family rental homes.

Sigma has maintained its 2p-per-share dividend – an increasing rarity among stock market companies that have mostly been keen to preserve cash and wary of the reputational risk of paying out to shareholders at this time. However Sigma has stated it has “no plans to furlough staff or to utilise government assistance schemes”.

“While the magnitude of the current emergency is significant, we are confident that Sigma is well placed to navigate the challenges,” added Barnet.

“The group is financially very secure, with a strong cash position, highly supportive lending partner in Homes England, and low cost base. Operationally, we have a robust outsourced business model and a highly experienced team.”

During 2019 it delivered 842 new rental homes to the REIT in 2019, with an estimated rental value of £7.9m per year.

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