Shaftesbury and Capital & Counties Properties were among the sharpest risers in the FTSE 350 on Thursday, as equity analysts said a lift in the value of the former’s West End portfolio was good news for both.
Shaftesbury said in a trading update yesterday that its portfolio value rose by 5% during the second half of its current financial year, to £3bn.
Chief executive Brian Bickell said a rise in footfall and office occupancy were boosting sentiment in the company’s “meticulously curated” portfolio, which has seen its value drop sharply during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Analysts at Jefferies said the revaluation was positive for Capco, which owns a 25% stake in Shaftesbury.
Capco’s shares rose by 3.6% during Thursday’s session, the fourth best rise across the FTSE 350, to close at a three-week high of 165p. Shaftesbury was up by 3.4% – the index’s seventh-best rise – to 623.5p, their highest since the last week of September.
On the other side of the pond, WeWork’s long-awaited first day as a public company was off to a good start. By midday on the East Coast, the flex office group’s New York Stock Exchange-traded shares were up by more than 10% at $11.40.
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