Data centre demand fuels growth at warehouse giant Segro

Industrial property giant Segro posted a strong rise in profits, buoyed by high demand for data centre spaces and improving market conditions.

The company's shares remained stable in early morning trading, as reported by City AM.

Segro's pre-tax profits surged by 14.9% to £470m in the year ending December 31, while its portfolio value increased 1.1% to £17.7bn.

The real estate investment trust's rental income also rose by 7% to £628m, driven by 5.5% like-for-like rental growth.

David Sleath, Segro's chief executive, said: "We have created the largest data centre hub in Europe and are increasingly excited about the exceptional value creation opportunity from our pipeline of 2.3GW European data centre sites in core Availability Zones [clusters of data centers near densely populated financial hubs].

"We plan to pursue the most attractive risk-adjust