19th May 2015 06:45
LONDON (Alliance News) - Land Securities Group PLC Tuesday reported strong growth in returns and profits in its last financial year as property valuations continued to surge and it achieved strong leasing levels across its new developments in London, and it also said the outlook remains positive as London remains supply constrained despite the growth in new developments.
The real estate development trust reported a total business return of 30.7% for the year to March 31, with net asset value per share rising to 1,343 pence from 1,069 pence a year earlier and its adjusted diluted NAV rising to 1,293p from 1,013p.
Pretax profit rose to GBP2.42 billion from GBP1.11 billion a year earlier, buoyed by a GBP2.04 billion property valuation surplus, up from GBP763.8 million, and an increase in revenue profit to GBP329.1 million from GBP319.6 million as net rental income rose.
The company, which is focused on the London development market and prime retail properties, raised its dividend for the year to 31.85 pence, from 30.70p a year earlier, as it raised its final dividend to 8.15p from 7.90p.
"We are determined to maintain our financial strength during this programme of significant investment and continued to implement our net debt neutral approach, with our development programme and acquisitions broadly matched with disposals," Chief Executive Robert Noel said in a statement.
Land Securities said its group loan-to-value ration stood at 28.5% at the end of March, based on adjusted net debt of GBP4.2 billion, down from 32.5% a year earlier.
"There remains economic and political uncertainty in Europe and elsewhere. Despite this uncertainty, we remain confident in the prospects for the 1.1 million square foot remaining to be let in our development programme in London because there is currently a significant lack of available, efficient, technically resilient space for businesses. With development starts picking up as expected, we still anticipate any development commitments beyond the current programme will be based on pre-lettings," the company said in its outlook statement.
"After two exceptionally active years in our Retail Portfolio, our focus on owning and managing great destinations will continue. We will recycle capital as required. Consumer spending increased during the year, which is always welcome news for retail businesses and the outlook is more positive. However, we still do not expect this to translate into rental growth across the entire sector. We have talked about winners and losers before, and it is the locations which are most in tune with shoppers' evolving tastes and needs that are set to benefit from consumer spending growth," it added.
By Steve McGrath; [email protected]; @stevemcgrath1
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