15th Jul 2005 07:00
British Land Co PLC15 July 2005 15 July 2005 Statement by Mr. John Ritblat, Chairman of The British Land Company PLC at the Company's Annual General Meeting on Friday, 15 July 2005 When we recently published our 2005 results we revealed another record andlively year extending our excellent track record of growth with security.British Land's compound total shareholder return for the last five years hasbeen 18% per annum, which means that £1,000 invested in 2000 had risen to £2,288at March end 2005. On a much longer view, we have increased our dividend everyyear without break for over a quarter of a century. 2004/5 was a particularly pleasing year for British Land in showcasing both theenduring strength of our business model as well as our determination to updateand change elements to assure continued success in the future. Pre-exceptionals, earnings per share, increased 7.2% and net assets per share19.1%. This financial success reflected contributions from right across ourbusiness. Rents increased 9.3% reflecting a wide range of asset managementsuccesses. We let 3 million sq ft, delivered 1.1 million sq ft of newdevelopments and were very active in repositioning our portfolio with bothpurchases and sales. The financial side of our business remains a distinctivestrength, with a notable refinancing of Broadgate among our achievements. Stephen Hester joined as Chief Executive in November and I am pleased that hehas grasped leadership of our Executive team so swiftly and effectively. Ourresults announcement in May presented clearly our focused strategy for thefuture and the key planks upon which it will be built. The £811 million takeover of Pillar Property PLC, announced on 23 May, has thisweek been approved by its shareholders. We have been preparing for itsassimilation, expected on 28 July 2005, when we will have £17.1 billion ofassets owned and under management. I am confident that the influx of newproperties and new people in the business of fund management will bringsustained benefits to British Land shareholders. Elsewhere, British Land is putting together a new 5 year revolving unsecuredbank facility to provide funding for its initiatives. Over £750 million isalready committed. We have also taken profitable advantage of the strong marketto sell the 300,000 sq ft pre-let warehouse we had developed at DIRFT inDaventry and our half-interest in the ILAC Centre in Dublin, while many otherinitiatives are progressing well across the business. The outlook for the sectors where we are invested remains promising. A tougherretailing climate will underline the strengths of our prime portfolio,especially with trends still favouring our distinctive position in out-of-townlocations. In the office sector, potential City of London occupiers remainactive with vacancy rates declining. As we predicted, the market is deliveringmore yield shift this year, in recognition of the solid fundamentals relative toinflation, bonds and equity yields. As always the best properties command mostinterest. Meanwhile we continue to work hard on our entire portfolio, which enjoys highoccupancy, is of prime quality, with excellent covenants on long leases. Weconcentrate on recycling capital towards the best opportunities for growth, andon creating plenty of further opportunities to improve returns on the assets weown. Of course, all of these efforts rely heavily on the skills and dedicationof our management team. Here too we are changing and renewing whilst asking forever higher performance. On your behalf, I would like to thank our colleagues,old and new, for these continuing endeavours. The Company is in fine fettle and I remain confident both that the propertyindustry is the place to be and that British Land's prospects are excellent. Contacts John Weston SmithThe British Land Company PLC tel. 020 7467 2899 Faeth BirchFinsbury tel. 020 7251 3801 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
British Land