Land Securities (LAND) posted robust half-year figures, with adjusted book value rising 3.8 per cent to 937p per share at 30 September. The stand-out performers were London shops (up 8.4 per cent, thanks to a new advertising screen at Piccadilly Lights) and developments (up 5.4 per cent).
But the latter didn't quite deliver the blistering valuation gains on which chief executive Rob Noel has staked his reputation - and which he insists will come through next year. "Valuers are increasingly reticent about revaluing properties as they go through the development process. They didn't outperform as much as I'd hoped," he admits. The total portfolio consequently undershot the standard IPD index in total return terms (ie, taking both income and capital gains into account).
Land Securities has been reshaping its regional retail portfolio to include more leisure tenants, which now account for about 30 per cent of rental income outside London. Most significantly, the company bought a further 35.6 per cent stake in X-Leisure, an institutional fund of multiplex cinemas, taking its share to 95 per cent. This purchase was funded partly by selling assets in peripheral locations - a task made easier by the nascent recovery in investor risk appetite for regional retail.
Broker Peel Hunt expects adjusted book value per share to rise to 972p by March 2014, up from 937p at the end of September 2013.
LAND SECURITIES (LAND) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 978p | MARKET VALUE: | £7.69bn | |
| TOUCH: | 978-979p | 12-MONTHHIGH: | 1,009p | LOW: 746p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 3.1% | TRADING PROP: | £175m | |
| DISCOUNT TO NAV: | 2% | |||
| INVESTMENT PROP: | £11.1bn | NET DEBT: | 49% | |
| Half-year to 30 Sep | Net asset value (p) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 922 | 131 | 16.8 | 14.8 |
| 2013 | 994 | 398 | 50.8 | 15.2 |
| % change | +8 | +203 | +202 | +3 |
Ex-div: 4 Dec Payment: 9 Jan | ||||
