Landlord Great Portland Estates (GPOR) provided further evidence of the strong demand for premium space in London's fashionable West End, and a combination of rising rents and capital appreciation helped to lift profits by a half. The previous half year's valuation surplus of £169m jumped to £301m, while net rental income grew by 16 per cent to £39.2m.
In an effort to capitalise on the demand/supply imbalance, the 1.2m sq ft committed development programme is the largest the group has ever undertaken, and there is a further 1.3m sq ft contained in a future pipeline. Crucially, when taking the existing portfolio and adding the development arm, chief executive Toby Courtauld believes the reversionary potential if all rents were marked to market is over 100 per cent. Vacancy rates remained historically low at just 3.6 per cent.