UPDATE 1-Quintain repays 63 million pounds of debt
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LONDON, Sept 30 (Reuters) - UK developer Quintain Estates & Development (QED.L) has achieved nearly two-thirds of a 100 million pounds ($180.2 million) target to cut company debt and insulate itself from a credit-freeze in the UK property market.
In a trading update on Tuesday, the firm responsible for some of Britain's largest urban regeneration schemes, near Wembley and the London Docklands, said it had repaid 63.2 million pounds of debt and was on course to achieve a target of paying down up to 100 million pounds by the end of its financial year on 31 March.
The company said it was also making good progress with lettings and its student accommodation fund had fared well since August, despite turmoil in global financial markets.
It said it had let five acres of land at its Silvertown site to Laing O'Rourke for 10 years, taking the total annual rent from the site to 918,000 pounds.
Around 98 percent of the 2,437 beds within Quintain's student accommodation fund, iQ, were let in the run-up to the start of the 2008/2009 academic year, achieving rents an average of 5 percent above last year's levels. (Reporting by Sinead Cruise; Editing by Quentin Bryar)
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