The UK produces more than 25 billion pints of milk a year, much of it sold in plastic bottles in supermarkets.
The closures are produced separately, both coloured and clear, and Doncaster-based Silgan Closures is one of the country’s leading producers.
Silgan manufactures its products at an industrial unit owned by Custodian Property Income Reit, a company with a strong focus on delivering attractive annual income to shareholders.
Diversified: Custodian owns properties ranging from industrial units manufacturing milk carton lids to retail parks where companies such as Next are tenants.
Income from property in custody It is led by property industry veteran Richard Shepherd-Cross, who qualified as a chartered surveyor in the 1990s and has been involved in the sector ever since.
Having helped found Custodian in 2009, he floated the business in 2014 with properties valued at £100m and a share price of £1.
Custodian’s assets are currently valued at £590m, but its shares are trading below 80p, down from £1.19 before the Covid-19 pandemic.
The decline appears overdone and should reverse as sentiment towards the real estate sector improves and interest rates continue to fall.
Meanwhile, shareholders are being rewarded handsomely through dividends. The group paid out 5.8p last year (including a 0.3p special) and Shepherd-Cross aims to pay out 6p for the 12 months to March.
This puts Custodian shares on a juicy yield of more than 7.5 per cent, comfortably beating savings rates at banks and building societies.
The generous payouts are no coincidence. Shepherd-Cross firmly believes that the primary goal of real estate companies is to generate reliable income for investors.
Custodian was created to do just that and it strives to deliver that. The results to date are encouraging, particularly considering the difficult market conditions of recent years.
The dividend increased steadily between 2014 and 2021, dipped slightly as a result of Covid, but has increased steadily since then and is expected to continue on that path.
Unlike many real estate companies, Custodian prides itself on having a diverse portfolio, with 155 properties spread across the country.
Several of them are let to more than one tenant, giving a total of more than 300 tenants, in sectors ranging from out-of-town business parks to small industrial sites.
Diversification means that no single tenant is responsible for more than 1.5 percent of total rents, a strategy designed to reduce risk and increase returns over economic cycles. And so it has been.
Despite the depressed share price, Custodian has outperformed its peers since listing, through a combination of dividend payments and share price.
Investors who bought shares in 2014 will have earned 36 pence for every pound invested, compared with a return of just 20 per cent for publicly traded property stocks overall over the same period.
While Shepherd-Cross is pleased to have outperformed its competitors, it is keen to deliver significantly better results for shareholders in the years ahead.
Demand for space is increasing across Custodian’s portfolio, including in the office sector, which many ruled out when working from home took off during the pandemic.
Fortunately, their properties are well located in city centres and business parks, and cater to modern ways of working with contemporary designs and a good amount of amenities.
Retail parks are another area of growth, from Duloch Park in Dunfermline to Coypool, Plymouth. Tenants include blue-chip companies such as B&M, Matalan and Homebase, as well as other leading chains expanding into out-of-town shopping centres.
Industrial tenants make up the majority of Custodian’s portfolio, from manufacturers to warehousing companies and logistics firms. There has been very little construction in this area in recent years, so space is in short supply and demand is strong.
Rents rose 5.6 percent last year across the group and are expected to rise at an even faster pace in the future.
Recent leases have increased significantly as tenants renew, and more such deals are forecast in the coming years.
Midas Verdict: Property companies have been through some tough times, but the tide is turning and savvy investors should take advantage of the benefits. Custodian has shown it can deliver through thick and thin, the dividends are a big draw and Shepherd-Cross is determined to do even better for shareholders from now on. At 79p, the stock is a buy.
Compare the best DIY investment platforms and stocks and shares ISAs
Investing online is easy, cheap and you can do it from your computer, tablet or phone at a time and place that suits you best.
When it comes to choosing a DIY investment platform, stocks and shares ISA or general investment account, the variety of options can seem overwhelming.
Each provider has a slightly different offering, charging more or less to trade or hold shares and providing access to a different range of shares, funds and investment trusts.
When evaluating which one is right for you, it’s important to consider the service they offer, along with administrative charges and trading fees, plus any other additional costs.
To help you compare the best investment accounts, we’ve analyzed the facts and put together a comprehensive guide to choosing the best and most affordable investment account for you.
We’ve highlighted the main players in the table below, but we encourage you to do your own research and consider the points in our comprehensive guide linked here.
>> This is Money’s complete guide to the best investment platforms and ISAs
The platforms below are independently selected by This is Money’s specialist journalists. If you open an account using links marked with an asterisk, This is Money will earn an affiliate commission. We do not allow this to affect our editorial independence.
| Administrative position | Charge notes | Operations with funds | Standard Shares, Trusts and ETF Trading | Regular investment | Reinvestment of dividends | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AJ Bell* | 0.25% | Maximum £3.50 per month for shares, trusts and ETFs. | £1.50 | £5 | £1.50 | £1.50 per offer | More details |
| Best investment* | 0.40% (0.2% for already prepared portfolios) | Account fee is reduced to 0.2% for investments already made | Free | £4.95 | Free for backgrounds | Free for income funds | More details |
| Charles Stanley live* | 0.35% | No platform fee applies to shares if a trade is made in that month and the annual maximum is £240 | Free | £11.50 | n/a | n/a | More details |
| Fidelity* | 0.35% on funds | £7.50 per month up to £25,000 or 0.35% with a regular savings plan. | Free | £7.50 | Free Funds £1.50 Shares, Trusts ETFs | £1.50 | More details |
| Hargreaves Lansdown* | 0.45% | With a limit of £45 for shares, trusts and ETFs | Free | £11.95 | £1.50 | 1% (£1 minimum, £10 maximum) | More details |
| Interactive Investor* | £4.99 a month below £50,000, £11.99 above, extra £10 for Sipp | Free trading worth £3.99 per month (does not apply to £4.99 plan) | £3.99 | £3.99 | Free | 0.99 £ | More details |
| iWeb | One-off fee of £100 (waived until December 2024) | £5 | £5 | n/a | 2%, maximum £5 | More details | |
| Accounts that have some limits but attractive offers | |||||||
| Etoro* Without investment funds or Sipp | Free | The investment account offers shares and ETFs. Beware of high-risk CFDs. | Not available | Free | n/a | n/a | More details |
| Trade 212* | Free | The investment account offers shares and ETFs. Beware of high-risk CFDs. | Not available | Free | n/a | Free | More details |
| Free trade* Without investment funds | Basic account free, Standard with Isa £4.99, Plus £9.99 | Freetrade Plus with more investments and Sipp costs £9.99/month including ISA fee | Without funds | Free | n/a | n/a | More details |
| Vanguard Only Vanguard’s own products | 0.15% | Vanguard Funds Only | Free | Only free Vanguard ETFs | Free | n/a | More details |
| (Source: ThisisMoney.co.uk July 2024. The administrative % fee may be charged monthly or quarterly. | |||||||
Some links in this article may be affiliate links. If you click on them we may earn a small commission. This helps us fund This Is Money and keep it free to use. We do not write articles to promote products. We do not allow any commercial relationships to affect our editorial independence.