NewRiver Retail, the UK’s 4th largest* owner/manager of shopping centres, is a leading specialist REIT focused on the UK food and value retail sector with the ambition to become the leading value-creating property investment platform in the sector.

With a core UK-wide portfolio and assets under management of £450m comprising 24 shopping centres, 16 High Street units and one shopping parade, NewRiver Retail has a clear investment strategy focused on driving income returns and delivering results for both our shareholders and in the towns of our retailers and shoppers.

As leading specialists in food and value retail NewRiver Retail has a pro-active asset management strategy and risk controlled development programme designed to enhance the value of our assets, improve the quality and length of our income streams and deliver a dynamic retail experience.

NewRiver are committed to driving innovation in a sector that remains resilient with proven year on year growth. We believe that retail property owners should manage their shopping centres as if they were retailers and we actively engage with investors, retailers, consumers and local stakeholders alike to achieve this.

We aim to be one of the highest performing listed Real Estate companies in Europe. With a highly experienced management team comprising over 100 years of combined experience in the market we are confident our income producing business model will deliver this to our investors.

*largest as defined by number over 50,000 sq ft

The company is a leading sector focused Real estate Investment Trust (REIT) and is publicly tracked on the London Stock Exchange, AiM and CISX market under the symbol NRR.

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New River Retail Fundamentals

Interim results statement

Financial Highlights
Record profits and good NAV per share growth

§ EPRA adjusted profit increased by 120% to £6.8 million (Sept 2013: £3.1 million)
§ Profit before tax increased by 137% to £12.3 million (Sept 2013: £5.2 million)
§ EPRA adjusted earnings per share of 6.8 pence (Sept 2013: 6.5 pence)*
§ Dividend per share of 8.5 pence (Sept 2013: 6 pence) following commencement of quarterly dividend
§ EPRA NAV per share increased by 14% to 252p (Sept 2013: 222p)
§ LTV increased to 38% (Sept 2013: 30%) with further approved debt facilities in place
§ Effectively deployed the majority of the £85million proceeds from the recent equity raise


Operational Highlights
Highly active asset management continues to drive value

§ Total of £174m of acquisitions completed at an average yield of 8.2%
§ Assets under management increased by 28% to £767 million (March 2014: £600 million)
§ Largest acquisition to date of Swallowtail portfolio, for £140 million at a NIY of 8%
§ High retail occupancy rate maintained at 95% (March 2014: 95%)
§ Strong performance across the retail portfolio including 110 new lettings and lease renewals, delivering £2.7 million pa at 11.1% above ERV
§ Excellent progress of Marston's pub estate conversion with 63 pre-let agreements secured with The Co-operative Group to build a convenience store portfolio
§ Growth of BRAVO** joint venture to £516 million of assets (March 2014: £347 million)
§ Successful recycling of equity through four disposals totalling £34.3 million
§ Growing risk-controlled development programme with two completions in Preston and Widnes

* During the period the average number of shares increased from 47.8m at 30 Sep 2013 to 99.5m at 30 Sep 2014
**Bravo refers to the joint venture with Bravo I and II (funds advised or managed by Pacific Investment Management Company LLC)

Proposed placing and acquisition

NewRiver Retail Limited ("NewRiver" or the "Company")
Proposed Placing to raise up to £75 million (the "Placing")

Acquisition of Remaining 90% of Shopping Centre Joint Venture from LVS Luxembourg IV Sarl ("LVS") for £71 million (the "Acquisition")

Declaration of Third Quarterly Dividend of 4.25 pence per Ordinary Share


Introduction

NewRiver Retail Limited (AIM: NRR), the UK REIT specialising in value-creating retail property investment and active asset management, is pleased to announce a proposed placing to raise up to £75 million to fund the Acquisition.

Placing

The Placing is being conducted by way of an accelerated bookbuild on the Company's behalf by Liberum. The bookbuild will open with immediate effect following this announcement. The timing of the closing of the bookbuild, pricing and allocations are at the discretion of the Company and Liberum. A further announcement will be made following closing of the placing book, confirming the final size of the Placing.

Liberum is acting as sole bookrunner and will be sole underwriter in relation to the Placing.

The Company has today entered into a placing agreement with Liberum (the "Placing Agreement") pursuant to which Liberum has agreed to use its reasonable endeavours to procure institutional and certain other investors (including certain existing shareholders) for the Placing Shares and, failing which, subject to final size and pricing of the Placing, to subscribe itself for the Placing Shares.
The Placing will not be structured as a rights issue or open offer and the Placing Shares will not be offered generally to shareholders on a pre-emptive basis. The Placing will be subject to certain resolutions being passed at an extraordinary general meeting of the Company (the "EGM") expected to be convened for on or about 8 January 2015.
In addition, the Placing is conditional, amongst other things, on:
· the passing of certain resolutions at the EGM and the waiver of pre-emption rights contained in the Company's articles of incorporation;
· the Placing Agreement becoming unconditional in all respects and not having been terminated in accordance with its terms prior to admission of the Placing Shares to trading on AIM ("Admission");
· the agreement relating to the Acquisition, inter alia, not having been terminated in accordance with its terms prior to Admission; and
· Admission becoming effective by 12 January 2015 (or such later date as the Company and Liberum may agree, being no later than 8.00 a.m. on 30 January 2015).
The Placing Shares are not being made available to the public and are not being offered or sold in any jurisdiction where it would be unlawful to do so.

Acquisition

The net proceeds of the Placing will be used to finance the acquisition from LVS, a subsidiary of Bravo (a fund advised or managed by Pacific Investment Management Company LLC), of the 90 per cent. of a joint venture (the "NewRiver Retail Property Unit Trust") not already owned by NewRiver for a cash consideration of £71 million. The underlying property portfolio comprises five shopping centres and a single high street asset which together have a net lettable area of approximately one million square feet across over 200 tenancies which have an average lease length outstanding of 7.2 years.Since NewRiver's acquisition of its initial 10 per cent. interest in 2012, the assets have performed well and have benefited from the Company's active asset management. Looking forward, the assets present a range of significant further opportunities to enhance value through asset management and risk-controlled development activities which are already being progressed by the Company. Whilst these opportunities are being pursued the portfolio will also continue to provide an attractive income return.

The acquisition is being made off market at the equivalent to a net initial yield of 7.75 per cent. on the acquisition price. The Acquisition is expected to be enhancing to NAV and EPS in the current financial year and beyond. Profit Before Tax for the year ended 31 December 2013 (audited) attributable to Unitholders of the NewRiver Property Unit Trust was £6.3 million (recurring) with £3.6 million of fair value adjustments, resulting in a total Profit Before Tax attributable to Unitholders for the year ended 31 December 2013 of £9.9 million.

The Acquisition is conditional, inter alia, upon the Placing being completed. The Placing is subject to the Agreement relating to the Acquisition becoming unconditional in all respects (save for any condition relating to the Placing Agreement) and to shareholder approval. A circular convening an EGM will be sent to Shareholders shortly.

Dividends

With effect from the financial year commencing 1 April 2014 the Company commenced the payment of quarterly dividends. Prior to today's announcement, two quarterly dividends of 4.25 pence per Ordinary Share have been announced. The first quarterly dividend was paid by the Company on 31 October 2014 whilst the second quarterly dividend is payable on 30 January 2015 to Shareholders on the register on 30 December 2014.

NewRiver is today announcing a third quarterly dividend for the current year of a further 4.25 pence per Ordinary Share, payable on 30 January 2015 to shareholders on the register on 5 January 2015. Ordinary Shares will be marked ex-dividend in respect of the third quarterly dividend on 2 January 2015.

The Placing Shares will not be entitled to receive the second or the third quarterly dividends but will rank pari passu in all other respects with the Ordinary Shares currently in issue and will have the right to receive all dividends and distributions declared in respect of the issued Ordinary Share capital of the Company after Admission.

As a REIT, NewRiver distributes at least 90 per cent of its recurring profits as dividends. The policy of quarterly dividends provides a source of regular income for Shareholders, thus improving their cashflow return profile.

The next quarterly dividend, which will be for the final quarter of the year ending 31 March 2015, is, in keeping with an ongoing policy where quarterly dividends will be announced around the relevant quarter end, expected to be announced before the end of March 2015 and payable by 30 April 2015.

David Lockhart, Chief Executive of NewRiver Retail, commented:

"NewRiver is delighted to announce the Placing and the Acquisition. This portfolio provides an attractive income stream on assets already known to the Company and will allow NewRiver to pursue a number of exciting value-enhancing asset management and risk controlled development opportunities. We are confident the Acquisition will add significant long term value and it is expected to be NAV and EPS enhancing in the current financial year and beyond. The commercial relationship with our joint venture partner, Bravo*, remains strong and both parties continue to pursue further joint venture opportunities, including through their 50:50 Bravo II joint venture."

*Bravo refers to a fund advised or managed by Pacific Investment Management Company LLC.

Completion of acquisition

Third Quarter Portfolio Update


NewRiver Retail Limited (AIM: NRR), the UK REIT specilaising in value-creating retail property investment and active asset management, announces the following portfolio update for the third quarter ending 31 December 2014.

The third quarter, inclusive of the key Christmas trading period, has been another highly active period for NewRiver. The Company completed a number of key acquisitions, growing the portfolio by 8.8% to £800 million at the end of December (Sept 2014: £735 million) and continued to deliver a significant number of value-enhancing asset management and development initiatives.

Highlights

§ Assets under management increased by 8.8% to £800 million (Sept 2014: £735 million)
§ Total of £30.3 million of acquisitions comprising two shopping centres, five high street units and two retail warehouses
§ Total rent roll under management increased by 4.9% to £70.7 million pa (Sept 2014: £67.4 million)
§ Completed 54 new leasing events of which new long-term leasing events achieved a rental income of 7.8% above valuation ERV with an average lease length of 7.6 years. Occupier incentives continue to decrease, now at an average of 5 months equivalent rent for the period
§ Weighted Average Lease Expiry ("WALE") for the retail portfolio was 7.6 years (Sept 2014: 7.9 years)
§ Maintained a stable retail portfolio occupancy rate of 96%
§ Sustained an affordable average retail rent of £12.72 per sq ft (Sept 2014: £11.87)
§ Top ten retailers within the portfolio defined by rental income remain strong national covenants and include Poundland, New Look, Superdrug, Primark, Wilkinson, Dixons Carphone, BHS, Boots and Argos
§ In the period 24 planning applications were submitted, which if granted will enable the Company to deliver over 78,000 sq ft of new development space for retail-led and mixed-use, including C-Store, hotels, leisure and residential
§ Footfall continues to grow across the portfolio delivering a 3.47% uplift in like for like figures for the period. This was boosted by the Christmas trade and Black Friday with various shopping centres reporting uplifts of between 6% and 20%; annual footfall for the portfolio totals over 122 million
§ Post period end, successful equity fundraise of £75 million at 275 pence per share, enabling the Company to acquire a major shopping centre portfolio with assets across the UK
§ Quarterly dividend policy commenced with a second interim dividend of 4.25 pence per share announced in November 2014 and a third interim dividend of 4.25 pence per share announced in December 2014.

Successful Equity Fundraise and Acquisition:

Post period end, NewRiver announced the successful completion of an equity fundraise of £75 million. The fundraise was voted on by shareholders at an EGM on Thursday 8 January 2015. Accordingly, the Company has issued 27,272,727 of new ordinary shares. The new shares were issued at 275p per share which was a 9.1% Premium to the reported EPRA NAV Per Share. Funds raised enabled NewRiver to acquire the remaining 90% of a major shopping centre portfolio for £71 million from LVS with assets across the UK, the completion of which was announced on 15 January 2015.

Quarterly Dividends:

In November the Board declared that a second quarterly dividend of 4.25 pence per share would be paid on 30 January 2015 to shareholders. On 03 December 2014 the Company announced a third quarterly dividend of 4.25 pence per share to be paid on 30 January 2015 to shareholders on the register on 5 January 2015. The Company expects to pay its fourth quarterly dividend for the year ended 31 March 2015 in April 2015.

Final Results

Strong market and best financial year to date
Financial highlights (1)
Delivering strong returns to shareholders
· EPRA adjusted profit(2) of £20.9 million (2014: £9.5 million)

· EPRA adjusted earnings per share of 19.8 pence (2014: 15.7 pence)

· Profit before tax of £39.5 million (2014: £23.1 million)

· Total Shareholder Return of 16% (2014: 55%)

· Dividends increased by 6.25% to 17 pence fully covered (2014: 16 pence).

· EPRA NAV of 265 pence increased by 10.5% (2014: 240 pence)

· Basic EPS of 37.5 pence (2014: 38.0 pence)

· Successful equity placing of £75 million to fund £71 million acquisition from Bravo I

Operational highlights (1)
Portfolio growth is driving value
· Total Acquisitions of £330 million

· 42% increase in assets under management to £848 million (NRR share: £626m)

· Successful £40.2 million recycling of equity

· 216 total leasing events; all new long-term lettings 10.1% above ERV

· Strong progress on Marston's portfolio

· Growing 1.25 million sq ft development programme

· 52 planning applications submitted; 24 consents received

· Enhanced occupancy of 96% (2014: 95%)

· Estates Gazette Property Company of the Year - Retail & Leisure Awards 2014

(1) Unless otherwise stated all figures include share of joint ventures

(2) EPRA Adjusted Profit is the total of EPRA recurring Profit plus Profit/Loss on disposal of Investment Properties


more...

Proposed Placing

Highlights

Proposed Placing to raise gross proceeds of £150 million at 300 pence per share to fund:
the circa £29 million consideration for the acquisition of the 50 per cent. stake not already owned by NewRiver in the Trent JPUT (the Marston's portfolio) at an implied net initial yield of 10.1 per cent.
the circa £23 million consideration for the acquisition of the 50 per cent. stake not already owned by NewRiver in the Camel III JPUT (a portfolio of five shopping centres) at an implied net initial yield of 7.2 per cent.
the Company's near term acquisition and development pipeline
Announcement of intention to move from AIM to the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange
Declaration of interim dividend for the quarter ended 30 June 2015 of 4.5 pence per share (the "First Quarterly Dividend")

more.....

Q1 Portfolio Update

Strong first quarter performance with £150 million equity fundraise, key acquisitions with continued value-enhancing asset management and its risk-controlled development progress

NewRiver Retail Limited (AIM: NRR), the UK REIT specialising in value-creating retail property investment and active asset management, announces the following portfolio update for the first quarter, beginning 1 April 2015 and ending 30 June 2015.

The Company has begun its financial year with a highly active and successful first quarter. The highlight was NewRiver's £150 million equity fundraise as announced on 19 June 2015 for which the majority of proceeds are committed. The Company also completed a number of acquisitions and one disposal with assets under management at the end of June 2015 totalling £849 million (31 March 2015: £848 million). Furthermore, the Company completed a significant number of value-enhancing active asset management and development initiatives.

HIGHLIGHTS

Completed a £150 million equity fundraise through the issue of 50,000,000 new ordinary shares at 300 pence per share, for which majority of the proceeds are committed
Post period end exchange of contracts for the £69.10 million acquisition of the Ramsay retail park portfolio at a yield of 8.03%
Exchange of contracts to acquire the remaining 50% of two separate joint ventures (Camel III and Trent) from LVS, a subsidiary of Bravo II*
Completed £7.23 million of acquisitions at an average net initial yield of 8.68%
Disposal of a portfolio of high street assets totalling £6.00 million, acquired in December 2014 for £5.00 million resulting in an IRR of 43.9%
Assets under management total £849 million at the end of June 2015 (31 March 2015: £848 million); on completion of the Ramsay portfolio NewRiver's assets under management will total nearly £920 million
Maintained a stable retail occupancy rate of 96%, at an average retail rent of £12.38 per sq ft (31 March 2015: 96% and £12.36 per sq ft respectively)
Weighted Average Lease Expiry ("WALE") for the retail portfolio is 7.5 years (31 March 2015: 7.4 years)
Successfully completed 55 new lettings and lease renewals during the period securing a total of £1.37 million per annum in long-term rent. New long-term leasing events achieved a rental income of 2.1% above valuation ERV with an average lease length of 9.4 years
Significant progress with the pub portfolio conversion programme, submitting a further six planning applications and successfully securing another three consents taking the total number of planning applications submitted to 45 and total planning consents received to 13.
Progress continues across the Company's growing development pipeline, comprising a total of 1.25 million sq ft of mixed-use, retail and leisure space which also includes hotels and residential

Acquisition completion

Further to recent announcements, NewRiver Retail Limited (AIM: NRR), the UK REIT specialising in value-creating retail property investment and active asset management, is pleased to announce the completion of three strategic acquisitions totalling £121 million marking the deployment of the majority of the £150 million raised in the Company's recent equity fund raise.

· The Ramsay Retail Warehouse Portfolio for a total consideration of £69.1 million, equating to a net initial yield of 8.0 per cent. on the income producing assets. The geographically diverse portfolio has been acquired from a major foodstore operator and comprises 13 assets and includes nine value-led retail parks and four development sites each with approved planning consents and pre-let interest from retailers;

· The £29 million acquisition from LVS, a subsidiary of Bravo II*, for the acquisition of the 50 per cent. stake not already owned by NewRiver in the Trent JPUT - the Marston's public house portfolio - at an implied net initial yield of 10.1 per cent bringing the portfolio 100 per cent. under NewRiver's ownership;

· The £23 million acquisition from LVS, a subsidiary of Bravo II*, of the 50 per cent. stake not already owned by NewRiver, in the Camel III JPUT - a portfolio of five shopping centres reflecting an implied net initial yield of 7.2 per cent bringing the portfolio 100 per cent. under NewRiver's ownership.

The three acquisitions, together with planned capital expenditure for identified risk-controlled development opportunities, will effectively deploy the £150 million raised in the Placing of new shares as announced on 19 June 2015.

Exchange of contracts for £53.5 million acquisition
of 158 Pubs from Punch Taverns, at a net initial yield of 13.61%

Is this one you still watch skinny? Divi still being quoted as somewhere around 7%.

Not for some time - sorry Harry.