Irish Residential Properties REIT has reported a rise in its operating revenue during the first six months of the year.
I-RES owns and manages a portfolio of largely residential properties in Dublin.
In interim results published this morning, the Canadian-owned firm said it had operating revenue of €17.9m between January and the end of June - compared with €11.2m for the same period of 2015.
I-RES also saw its average monthly rent rise slightly, from €1,364 in June 2015 to €1,399 at the end of June of this year.
However, due to new rental legislation whereby landlords may now only increase rents every two years, many of these properties will not see rental increases until 2017.
Net rental income margin fell 2.4% to 78.4%, which I-RES attributed to the high vacancy rate carried over into this year.
So far in 2016 I-RES has acquired 674 high-quality apartments for €153.6m, and has also started construction of 68 apartments at Beacon South Quarter in Sandyford at an expected cost of €22.7m.
Meanwhile, the firm’s overall occupancy rate was down slightly during the period, from 99.5% to 98.3%.
At the beginning of the year, the company secured a revolving credit facility of €250m, which can be extended to €350m.
The company gave a positive outlook for the market for the rest of 2015, highlighting short-term investment opportunities and development in Sandyford.
