UPDATE 1-Warehouser Segro raises 450 mln pounds from new shares, flags no-deal Brexit risks

Warehousing specialist Segro Plc announced the issue of shares to raise about 450 million pounds ($576.45 million) for investment in a pipeline of UK and European projects on Friday, as it unveiled higher profits and revenue for 2018.

Bookrunner Merrill Lynch said in a statement that all of the shares had been taken up, with pricing to follow. London-traded shares in the real estate investment trust rose around 1 percent at opening. The company also warned of potentially acute effects on markets from a disorderly no-deal Brexit but said it judged the chances of adverse impact on the group as "low".

Britain is due to leave the European Union on March 29, and with Prime Minister Theresa May still battling to get parliamentary approval for her plan and appease Brussels, businesses are having to spend millions of pounds to prepare for a "no-deal" exit from the bloc. Segro currently has over 500 thousand square metres worth of projects in development across Europe, nearly twice what it has in the United Kingdom.

"In most scenarios there may be extended periods of uncertainty, leading to market impacts that are less acute but persistent," it said. "In the event of a 'no deal' disorderly Brexit these impacts could be acute." The company said urbanisation and the shift to more online shopping continued to outweigh sluggish economic growth across Europe, keeping the warehousing market strong.

"Occupier and investment market conditions remain supportive and we continue to experience strong demand for new warehousing," Chief Executive Officer David Sleath said. Segro, which had net debt of 2.18 billion pounds at the end of 2018, also added that it was on track to invest over 600 million this into its projects and to buy more land.

($1 = 0.7806 pounds) (Reporting by Pushkala Aripaka in Bengaluru; editing by Patrick Graham)

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