NewRiver REIT FY26 results: higher earnings, bigger dividend and a cleaner investment case
NewRiver REIT has put out a strong set of preliminary unaudited results for the year ended 31 March 2026, and the broad message is pretty simple – the Capital & Regional deal looks to be doing what management said it would.
Earnings moved up, the dividend edged higher, the portfolio kept leasing well, and the balance sheet looks more flexible after refinancing. For retail investors, this matters because NewRiver is trying to prove that the enlarged group can grow income per share, not just get bigger for the sake of it.
Key NewRiver REIT full-year numbers retail investors should focus on
| Metric | FY26 | FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| UFFO | £37.2 million | £30.5 million |
| UFFO per share | 8.3p | 8.1p |
| Total dividend | 6.7p | 6.5p |
| EPRA NTA per share | 105p | 102p |
| IFRS profit after tax | £31.7 million | £23.7 million |
| Portfolio valuation | £802.2 million | £897.5 million |
| Loan to value | 40.4% | 42.3% |
| Cash | £115.8 million | £62.1 million |
The standout for me is that UFFO per share rose to 8.3p from 8.1p even after disposal activity. UFFO means Underlying Funds From Operations – basically NewRiver’s preferred measure of recurring operating profit, stripping out some one-off and non-cash items.
The dividend rose by 3% to 6.7p per share, with an 80% payout of UFFO, exactly in line with policy. That gives investors a decent mix of income today and some retained cashflow to support the balance sheet.
Capital & Regional integration success is the big strategic win in these NewRiver results
This was the first full year with Capital & Regional inside the group, and the company says integration is complete. More importantly, it says £6.2 million of annual net cost synergies have been fully unlocked.
That is a big deal because acquisitions can look clever on announcement day and messy a year later. Here, NewRiver is showing the opposite – the operating platform has absorbed the assets, costs have come out, and London retail now makes up 43% of the portfolio by value.
That London weighting matters because management is clearly leaning into areas where it sees the best rental growth. In London retail, long-term leasing was signed at +12.8% versus ERV – estimated rental value, or the valuer’s view of market rent – and +31.8% above previous passing rent.
That is the sort of evidence investors want. It suggests the portfolio is not just stable, but capable of growing rents as leases are renewed or re-let.
NewRiver leasing performance shows why shopping centres are not dead
The market still tends to treat retail property with a bit of suspicion. NewRiver’s figures argue that the right retail assets are working just fine.
Across FY26, it completed 318 leasing transactions covering 930,700 sq ft and secured £10.8 million of annualised income. Long-term transactions secured £9.1 million of annual rent at +8.5% versus ERV and +37.3% above previous passing rent, with a WALE of 9.0 years. WALE means weighted average lease expiry – in plain English, how long the leases have left to run on average.
- Occupancy was 95.0%
- Tenant retention was 93%
- Rent collection was 99%
- Consumer spending across the portfolio rose +2.3% in Q4
- Occupancy cost ratio was 7.8%
That last metric is worth noting. It measures how affordable the rents are for tenants relative to sales, and 7.8% suggests NewRiver is not trying to squeeze occupiers to breaking point. That usually makes income more durable.
Retail parks also look particularly healthy, with leasing at +63.8% above previous passing rent and 100% tenant retention. That is very strong reversion and shows there is still demand for the right space in the right place.
Dividend growth and the NewRiver REIT share buyback both helped per-share value
One of the smartest things in the update was the August 2025 buyback of 47.7 million shares from Growthpoint at 75p per share. That represented about 10% of issued share capital.
Management says the purchase was accretive to both UFFO and NTA per share, and the maths supports that. Buying shares at 75p when EPRA NTA per share was materially higher helped push EPRA NTA per share up to 105p from 102p despite asset disposals.
For investors, that matters more than headline empire-building. It shows capital allocation discipline – management sold assets at book value, used some proceeds to reduce leverage, and bought back shares when they believed the market undervalued the business.
Balance sheet improvement and refinancing reduce risk, but finance costs remain a watchpoint
The balance sheet has improved, though it is not perfect. Loan to value, or LTV, fell to 40.4% from 42.3%, while net debt dropped to £324.5 million from £379.2 million.
Cash nearly doubled to £115.8 million, and post year-end NewRiver agreed a new £240 million unsecured facility. That includes a £120 million Term Facility Commitment and a £120 million revolving credit facility, replacing and extending existing bank lines.
The really useful bit is strategic rather than flashy – the group is moving back to a fully unsecured debt structure once the Mall facility is refinanced in January 2027. That gives management more freedom and avoids having chunks of the estate tied to secured debt.
There is a catch, though. Interest cover fell to 4.6x from 6.0x, and net debt to EBITDA increased to 6.2x from 5.4x. Those are still within policy, but they show the cost of carrying more debt after the acquisition.
Management is also clear that higher finance costs over the next three years are a real headwind. I actually like that honesty. It is better than pretending refinancing pain does not exist.
Property valuations are stabilising, but disposals reduced total asset value
The portfolio valuation fell to £802.2 million from £897.5 million, but that was mainly because NewRiver sold £110 million of assets during the year. On a like-for-like basis, portfolio valuation growth was +0.7%.
That is modest, not spectacular, but in retail property modest and steady is no bad thing. Even better, values rose +0.5% in the second half, making this the third consecutive period of valuation growth.
London retail was the strongest area, delivering +2.0% valuation growth. That backs up management’s push to concentrate more of the portfolio there.
What these NewRiver REIT results mean for shareholders now
On balance, this is a positive update. The integration looks successful, leasing momentum is good, dividend growth is intact, and management is making sensible decisions on disposals, buybacks and debt.
The negative angle is that this is still a retail landlord with refinancing risk ahead and a leverage level that leaves less room for error than a very conservative REIT. The company also noted retailer restructurings during the year, and that is always part of the backdrop in this sector.
Still, the important point is that NewRiver is not relying on vague promises. It is showing real operational evidence – rents signed above ERV, high rent collection, solid occupancy, and synergies actually delivered.
For income-focused investors, a 6.7p dividend backed by 8.3p of UFFO is the heart of the story. For value investors, 105p EPRA NTA per share against a business still talking about a discount to NAV is likely the attraction. Put the two together, and NewRiver’s investment case looks sharper than it did a year ago.
