British Land has reported pretax profits up from £55.3m to £156.4m, boosted by the £41m sale of trading property.
But its share fell 36p on the announcement to 400p as the company failed to outline new strategy initiatives. Meadowhall boosted the shopping centre portfolio to a growth rate of 8.3%, up from 7.3%, retail warehouses, up 8.4% from 1.6% but office values slowed from 3% to 2.4% and supermarkets from 6% to 2.3%.
British Land signalled continued growth through acquisitions and development. It plans to revalue its assets every six months, a trend among real estate companies. It is working on an e-commerce strategy. The City was not impressed with what it heard despite the profits increase. Other property stocks dropped on the day with Land Securities down 280 to 790p and Hammerson down 5.5p to 412.5p.
Financial Times 01/06/00 page 28
The Daily Telegraph 01/06/00 page 40
The Times 01/06/00 page 28, page 30 (Stock Market & Tempus)
The Independent 01/06/00 page 25 (The Investment Column)
