British Land annual profits improve in "positive market"

14th May 2015 07:06

Property development and investment giant British Land met forecasts with a small increase in profits in the year ended 31 March, helped by a "positive market".The company, which owns London office and residential properties and a national retail portfolio, reported an underlying pre-tax profit of £313m, up 5.4% on the previous year.Diluted underlying earnings per share increased 4.1% to 30.6p, more or less in line with consensus estimates.The company said the property market was buoyed by a "supportive" macro environment and low funding costs. "London continued to be the principal beneficiary, with demand driving yields down in both the City and West End; occupationally, markets remained strong," it said.British Land, which owns the Cheesegrater building in London, saw a 12.1% uplift in the value of its portfolio to £13.64bn.The final quarterly dividend will be 6.92p per share, taking the full-year payout to 27.68p, up 2.5% year-on-year.Chief executive Chris Grigg said the company;s strong performance "underlines the success of our actions repositioning the business".The company has moved its focus in recent years to London and the South East, while its retail portfolio is said to be positioned for omni-channel growth and focused on largest multi-let assets."These actions put us in a strong position in the context of long-term trends which will have a significant impact on our markets: globalisation; population growth and urbanisation; and the transforming impact of technology on the way we work, shop and live. This all gives us confidence that we are well positioned for the future and for continued outperformance," Grigg said.