British Land fine-tunes strategy

Management said the development programme would never exceed 15 per cent of the total portfolio value (it is now 13.3 per cent), even though it has been the standout performer of recent years and last year posted a valuation gain of 12.2 per cent. The company also intends to exit its "subscale" European business - the standout underperformer last year, with values falling 17 per cent. And it will never have more than £500m of capital tied up in homebuilding, which it has massively expanded to meet rampant demand for central London flats.

Last year, the key numbers moved in the right direction - but only just. The property portfolio was marked up by 0.5 per cent, with a strong performance from London offices offsetting a 2.2 per cent decline in the retail portfolio. Underlying profits were 1.9 per cent ahead at £274m, thanks entirely to lower debt costs - the company's rental income actually fell marginally as a result of disposals and development projects. Adjusted book value per share was effectively flat as the dilutive impact of the March share placing wiped out slight gains from revaluations and undistributed profits.

Brokerage Investec expects NAV of 621p in Mar 2014.