EDINBURGH real estate business Ediston is preparing to issue more shares in its investment trust, the Ediston Property Investment Company, to allow it to take advantage of improved market opportunities.

Trust chairman William Hill said that the UK commercial property market had returned to relative stability after experiencing volatility in the wake of the Brexit vote. As a result, he said, the trust would look to “expand its capital base” if “market conditions permit”.

The company, which issued 500,000 new shares in November 2016, already has shareholder authority to issue up to £15 million worth of new shares.

In the trust’s half-year report for the period to the end of March, Mr Hill noted that its properties had increased in value to £184.7 million, a rise of 1.8 per cent since September 2016.

During the same period its net asset value per share was up by 2.4 per cent to 109.7p.

Mr Hill said the trust would make “continued progress” in the second half, “particularly if it can grow its equity base and expand the investment portfolio”.