Broker snap: British Land downgraded after full-year results

23rd May 2011 12:38

Peel Hunt has issued property firm British Land with a downgrade, from 'buy' to 'hold', saying that its final results - while "commendable" - were lower than expected."Unlike leader peer Land Securities, British Land has a broader UK exposure to commercial property and is less endowed to special situations that boosted Land Securities last week," the broker said. "That said, the result is still commendable having outperformed IPD [Investment Property Databank] by +240 basis points, though with moderating yield compression and just a 3% discount on the shares we downgrade to 'hold'."Nevertheless, the group recorded an adjusted net asset value per share of 567p, 12.5% higher than the previous year, prompting the broker to raise its current year forecasts froom 604p to 610p,While the rating is cut, the target price is kept the same at 610p.---BC