Sirius pauses investment in UK

Sirius Real Estate (SRE) said alongside its full-year results that it would pause investment in the UK until the political direction was clearer.

Chief executive Andrew Coombs told the IC that the tax environment for its small business tenants was more favourable in Germany, its other jurisdiction. He added that the one possible exception for UK acquisitions might be self-storage, a market in which the company is looking to grow.

Sirius aims to more than double these revenues to €15mn (£13mn) in the medium term. Coombs observed that “the worse geopolitics gets, the higher the demand for self-storage”, a point not made by larger peers Big Yellow Group (BYG) and Safestore (SAFE).

Despite this uncertainty, Coombs noted that the UK had seen “really strong trading conditions” in recent months.

The results also provided evidence of the company’s pivot towards defence-led industrial properties. The company has made a couple of larger acquisitions to this end in Germany in recent months, including a €93mn site in Kiel predominantly let to Rheinmetall (DE:RHM).

Chief executive Andrew Coombs told the IC that defence-led sites “were the preferred [acquisition] approach” but that other sites would also be under consideration. He described Germany as a “very investable market”.

Sirius reported funds from operations, a measure of cash flow, of €133mn (£115mn) on rental income of €240mn, up 8 per cent and 11 per cent respectively versus the prior year. Like-for-like rental growth was 6 per cent.

Sirius’s shares have risen 4 per cent so far this year as the company continues to outperform real estate peers. We see no reason why this shouldn’t continue, with the shares trading on only 13 times analysts’ 2028 earnings estimates. Buy.

Last IC view: Buy, 92p, 2 Jan 2026