British Land has this morning announced a 4.2% hike in its net asset value to 591p a share in its half-year results to the end of September.
The REIT said the value of its property portfolio, which includes the Leadenhall Building in the City that it is developing in a joint venture with Oxford Properties, increased by 2.2% to £10.2bn.
This includes a 5.3% hike in the value of its offices and a 0.7% increase in its retail properties, with office developments showing a 15.2% jump.
British Land said it delivered continued rental value growth and retail and office lettings ahead of estimated rental value, which also rose.
ERV for shops rose 0.5% against the IPD index of -0.3%, and UK occupancy came in at 98.3%. BL secured 527,3000 sq ft in new lettings and renewals during the period at 5.4% ahead of ERV.
Office ERV was up 3%, with occupancy strong at 97.7% following 191,000 sq ft of new lettings and prelets agreed 6% ahead of ERV.
The REIT today also announced that following the end of the period Aon signed a 191,000 sq ft prelet for one-third of the 610,000 sq ft Leadenhall Building for an initial rent averaging £56 per sq ft.
The REIT has made £332m of purchases since the start of the financial year, adding to a total of £1.9bn of committed investments in the past 18 months, with nearly 90% in central London and retail.
British Land’s pretax profit for the six-month period was up 3.9% to £132m.
Chief executive Chris Grigg said: “In the current challenging economic environment, our results demonstrate the quality of our portfolio underlined by the actions we have taken to focus on growing both income and capital. We are well positioned for today but also have the capacity to capture upside when the economy improves.”
bridget.o’connell@estatesgazette.com
