14th Jul 2006 11:10
British Land Co PLC14 July 2006 Statement by Sir John Ritblat Chairman of The British Land Company PLC at the Company's Annual General Meeting Friday, 14 July 2006 Summary points - Board changes • Sir John Ritblat announces his intention today to stand down as Chairman of the British Land Company PLC on December 31, 2006. • The Board has elected Sir John as Honorary President of British Land upon his retirement. • Sir John will be succeeded as Chairman by Dr Chris Gibson-Smith, currently Senior Independent director, on January 1, 2007. He has been appointed Deputy Chairman with immediate effect. • Sir David Michels will become Senior Independent Non-Executive Director in January. Statement by Sir John Ritblat Chairman of The British Land Company PLC at the Company's Annual General Meeting, Friday, 14 July 2006 I am pleased to be able to report to you that British Land's 2006/7 financialyear - my 36th with the Company - is off to a thoroughly robust start. Theproperty investment market remains strong, particularly for the prime propertiesin which we specialise. Since 31st March 2006 we have taken a further significant step in our Europeanbusiness with the purchase of a 50% interest in a 2.1 million sq ft mixed retailand leisure development, at Puerto Venecia, Zaragoza, Spain. We expect it tohave an end-value of some €500 million. Just a few days ago we were able to announce the purchase for £253 million ofthe half we did not own of BL Davidson. This joint venture with the Davidsonfamily has a gross value in excess of £700 million, the assets being prime UKretail warehousing, overwhelmingly Open A1 Retail, and Central London offices. At the present time we have a number of UK disposals in course, all at pricesahead of last March's valuation. We are seeing some signs of greater discrimination among investors as theyreview growth prospects and some slowing of yield shift. Occupiers too arebecoming more discerning. The demand from the stronger tenants for qualitybuildings in good locations continues unabated. Now to some personal matters. We take our leave today of three valueddirectors. Sir Derek Higgs has served with great distinction since 2000,latterly as Deputy Chairman. Derek has contributed greatly to our deliberationsover many years, especially on corporate governance, but told us last Autumnthat he wished to focus on his new role as Chairman of Alliance & Leicester.John Weston Smith, who served successively as Company Secretary, Director,Finance Director and Chief Operating Officer, has been truly instrumental in theCompany's success over the last 35 years. And Patrick Vaughan has completed his year of service post the acquisition ofPillar, the success of which is in no small part due to his efforts. And finally an even more personal matter. I have always spoken of property as along-term business, and indeed I personally have been actively engaged in it forover half a century, since 1952. I first became head of a public company in1969, as Managing Director of Union Property Holdings, which I merged the nextyear with The British Land Company. I have told the Board that I would like to stand down at the end of 2006. TheCompany is in excellent shape after another record year and with managementtransition to Stephen Hester now successfully complete. I do not think it wouldbe too immodest to say that he has received a pretty respectable inheritance!He has already made a distinctive mark on the Company and in our industry as ourChief Executive, and he has my best wishes for a long and happy future. I am proud and complimented that the Board has been kind enough to elect meHonorary President of the Company when I cease to be Chairman. My successor asChairman will be Dr. Chris Gibson-Smith, and he steps up to be our DeputyChairman today. He was a Managing Director of BP, and then took charge of National Air TrafficServices before being appointed to his present position as Chairman of theLondon Stock Exchange. We are fortunate to have him and I am sure that he willbe a popular choice and will continue the Company's successful path. He will be succeeded as Senior Independent Non-Executive Director in January bySir David Michels, whom we congratulate on his knighthood in the Queen'sBirthday Honours. We have come a long way. When I took over Union Property Holdings (London)Ltd., the precursor of British Land in 1969, it had assets of just £6 millionand a share price of a few pennies - old pennies at that. Now we have assetsowned and managed in excess of £18 billion and net assets per share of some £15.I am sure that the future prospects of the portfolio will continue to shine. For further information contact:The British Land Company: 020 7486 4466: Laura De VereFinsbury: 020 7521 3801: Faeth Birch This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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