British Land asset value rises
British Land posted a 12.5 per cent increase in its net asset value per share and said it expected strong demand for prime office and retail property to continue.
The property company confirmed a full-year NAV per share of 567 pence, from 504 pence a year earlier. Its underlying pre-tax profit was £256m, up 2.8 per cent from £249m a year earlier.
Chief executive Chris Grigg said the results for the year to 31 March showed it had outperformed the market, noting the company was well placed to continue its strong performance.
“We have made a significant commitment to London office development and also continued to build on our high quality retail portfolio,” Grigg said in a statement.
“Our strong letting performance across our portfolio shows clearly that there is still demand from occupiers for the well-located prime retail and London office assets we provide and we expect this to continue,” he said.
British Land’s results showed it had investment properties worth £4.75bn, from £4.13bn a year ago. Its investments in joint ventures and funds totalled £2.07bn, from £1.59bn a year earlier.
The company maintained its full-year dividend of 6.5 pence, meaning its total dividend for the year was stable at 26 pence.
On May 18, Land Securities said it would develop more prime central London offices to capitalise on a wider than expected supply shortfall, after reporting a near 20 per cent rise in its full-year NAV to 826 pence a share.