LandSec going ‘strong’

Land Securities has reported on “a year of continued recovery” in the sector and its own “strong progress”. Francis Salway, chief executive, said at the full-year results that the company’s focus on development, a disciplined approach to acquisitions and disposals and its asset management activities had all delivered significant momentum across the business.

“In London, we are developing schemes to meet the anticipated undersupply of new office floor space, which may be even more acute than originally forecast,” he said. “In retail, our focus covers both a small number of development projects grounded on pre-lettings and the recycling of assets to ensure the portfolio is well matched to the emerging patterns of demand from retailers. We also benefit from a favourable portfolio mix with 43 percent of assets in central London offices and 61 percent in Greater London as a whole.”

The company expected to see particularly strong growth prospects in London over the next few years. He announced adjusted diluted net asset value per share up 19.5 percent to 826p and pre-tax profit up 14.8 percent to £1.23bn.