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Land Securities' portfolio value up by nearly £1bn

By This Is Money
Updated: 06:42 EDT, 18 May 2011

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Land Securities posted an 18% rise in value per share and said it will continue speculatively developing offices to meet central London demand that it predicts will be stronger than expected.

High rise: Rental values were up 4.7% across its portfolio

The landlord and developer's net asset value per share rose to 885p, including a £908.8m increase in the value of its portfolio to £10.6bn, up 9.7% from a year earlier.

Rental values were up 4.7% across its total like-for-like portfolio since March 2010, while voids - unlet floorspace - had fallen to 4.3% at March 31.

'We remain of the view that our markets are in recovery mode and we see particularly strong growth prospects in London over the next few years,' Chief Executive Francis Salway said in a statement.

'We may continue to see ripples in (commercial property) prices, but we go into the new financial year confident in our plans and well positioned to address growth opportunities,' Salway said.

The company, which posted a pretax profit of £1.23bn, up 14.8% on the year, kickstarted its office development programme months ago to capitalise on a shortage of prime offices in central London.

Land Securities pipeline includes the £500m, 37-storey tower at 20 Fenchurch St, known as the 'Walkie Talkie' because of its likeness to a telephone handset. The project is a joint venture with Canary Wharf Group.

'Consistent with our view last year, we expect the strongest rental value growth to occur for London offices and we continue to believe that the best way to capture this is by undertaking speculative development projects in the best locations in London,' the company statement continued.

'This will play to our strengths, and we will continue to enhance returns from our development activity in London with residential development where appropriate,' the company said.

Land Securities also said it would continue to refine the composition of its retail portfolio through new development, where we can achieve significant pre-lettings, and through selective purchases and sales.

Land Securities recommended lifting its final dividend to 7.2p, from 7p a year earlier. This morning the firm's shares were up 50.5p (6.8%) to 798p.

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