Ires Reit chief says rent pressure zones have 'huge impact' on share price

Shares in the company are trading below its current value of all its assets

The value of the company’s assets currently stand at about €1.26 per share, while today the company’s shares were trading at close to €1.07.

The current rent pressure zones system has a “huge impact” on share price, the chief executive of Ires Reit has said, as the company vows to address the “discount” between the company’s market capitalisation and asset value.

This comes after the firm, which is the largest private landlord in the State, issued a trading update which showed the company delivered a strong operational performance in the first three months of 2025, maintaining near full occupancy and making progress on its asset disposal programme.

However, the company’s stock price remains low in comparison to its net value assets.

Speaking following its annual general meeting in Dublin today, Ires Reit chief executive Eddie Byrne said the value of the company’s assets stand at about €1.26 per share, while the company’s shares were trading at close to €1.07.

This gives the company a market value of €560m.

Mr Byrne said the company has done a number of things to return value to shareholders, including increasing their net rental income as well as selling units on the open market at a premium.

“I think all the things that we’re doing for ourselves, are actually having an impact on the share price as well,” he said.

He added that the current rent pressure zones are a “huge impact on the share price” and a “ big determinant of value”.

Vision Capital

Last year, the board of Ires Reit pushed back on the demands of a minority shareholder and activist investor, Vision Capital.

Vision Capital mounted a campaign criticising the board’s running of the company and its low share price.

It sought to bring a resolution which could force a sale of Ires and its assets over the coming years.

However, the board was able to reach a resolution with Vision Capital which included a strategic review of the business.

The review concluded by ruling out a sale of the company or its assets with no offers being made to buy the company.

“The board remains committed to maximising value for shareholders and addressing the discount between the company’s market capitalisation and net asset value,” Mr Byrne said.

On the Government’s plans to reform the rent pressure zone system, and potential alternative rent control systems, Mr Byrne said they are not all “mutually exclusive” and there might be a combination of systems that might work.

However, he does not believe a reference rent system is something that can be “implemented in a period of time that kind of makes sense”.

One of the other systems which have been suggested was to only allow rent charged on a property to be adjusted after the tenancy ends and not during.

Mr Byrne said “breaking the link between the tenancy and the unit is something that the Government should look at” as it can lead to landlords leaving the market as the rental return does not grow with what the property can fetch if it is sold.

In its trading update, the company reported an occupancy rate of 99.7% for the three months ending on March 31, up from 99.4% at the end of 2024.

The group’s net rental income margins improved compared to the second half of 2024, supported by additional income-generating and cost-reduction initiatives stemming from the company’s strategic review.

Disposals under the company’s strategic review also advanced, the group said, with the sale of 13 units previously in the pipeline completed at “strong” premiums to book value. A further 12 units are currently lined up for sale.

Ires said it remains on track to dispose of at least 50 units in 2025, with average sales premiums expected to range between 15% and 20%.