Ires Reit, the largest private residential landlord in the Republic, confirmed on Thursday it plans to buy back as much as €5 million of its shares as they trade at a deep discount to their intrinsic value.
Still, the amount being allocated to the programme equates to just 1 per cent of the company’s market valuation.
Ires shares are currently trading at about 92 cents, some 27 per cent below the €1.26 net asset value that the company put on its stock as of December.
Davy has been hired to buy back the shares before the end of May, subject to market conditions.
The move comes days after Ires – owner of a portfolio 3,668 residential units, mainly apartments, in the Greater Dublin Area – refinanced its existing €500 million revolving credit facility and secured up to an additional €200 million of borrowing capacity from its bankers.
Around €145 million of its existing €500 million revolving facility was undrawn at the end of last year. Adding in the €200 million accordion facility gives €345 million of potential debt liquidity, according to Davy analyst Colin Grant.
Ires recently reported that the like-for-like value of its property portfolio stabilised in the second half of 2024, following a period of asset writedowns as a result of a spike in interest rates.
Ires is also currently engaged in an asset disposal programme involving 340 properties as it seeks to recycle capital. The disposal of 66 properties was completed in 2024 for €19 million, leaving 274 property sales to come over the next few years.
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Ires initially outlined the buyback plan last month, saying the €5 million equates to the accounting gain it expects to achieve from property sales, including properties sold last year and in line to be offloaded by the middle of 2026.
The company’s loan-to-value ratio stood at 44.4 per cent at the end of last year, down from 45.4 per cent in June, but still coming in at the upper end of its 40-45 per cent target. The company said last month that its ongoing asset disposal programme will be used to manage its LTV ratio.
