British Land’s (BLND) strong performance last year was helped by solid investor demand for retail, office and residential space. The property portfolio was marked up by 8.3 per cent, driven mainly by a 14.5 per cent uplift from offices and homes, while the retail portfolio - which is mainly outside of London - contributed a more modest 4.4 per cent gain.
Crucially, rental income rose, thanks to a combination of rising rents and a larger rental portfolio. The latter was boosted by a decision back in 2010 to deliver 2.7m square feet of expensive flats and office space, mainly in London. Since then the programme has generated profits of £608m, with another £45m expected.
Given the strength of the market, British Land last year decided to extend its pipeline with a further 2.5m square feet of developments; these are expected to generate a capital uplift of £300m. The company's total exposure to development now stands at 13 per cent of the portfolio value - below the 15 per cent limit it imposed on itself last year. Meanwhile, the discipline of capital recycling - which means selling mature assets and buying properties with more potential - saw disposals of £960m and total acquisitions of £1.15bn.
Analysts at Morgan Stanley are forecasting adjusted book value of 754p a share for March 2015.
| THE BRITISH LAND COMPANY (BLND) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 713p | MARKET VALUE: | £7.21bn | |
| TOUCH: | 712-713p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 723p | LOW: 544p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 3.8% | TRADING PROPERTIES: | £271m | |
| PREMIUM TO NAV: | 4% | |||
| INVESTMENT PROP: | £9.98bn* | NET DEBT: | 69% | |
| Year to 31 Mar | Net asset value** (p) | Pre-tax profit (£bn) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 504 | 1.13 | 133 | 26 |
| 2011 | 567 | 0.83 | 96 | 26 |
| 2012 | 595 | 0.48 | 54 | 26.1 |
| 2013 | 596 | 0.26 | 32 | 26.4 |
| 2014 | 688 | 1.11 | 111 | 27 |
| % change | +15 | +327 | +247 | +2 |
Ex-div: 2 Jul Payment: 8 Aug *Including £2.71bn within joint ventures and funds **Adjusted NAV | ||||
