Land Securities to bide its time

18th Nov 2009 07:21

All of the key numbers still pointed down in Land Securities' half-year figures, but the property giant is confident 'that from the low point in July 2009 property values will rise over the next five years'.Chief executvie Francis Selway added the ride may be bumpy with the profile of price rises characterised by ripples rather than pure straight-line growth and LandSecs will be careful in choosing its opportinities."We are prepared to be patient for the best opportunities and we will not rush our investment programme, as we expect a broader range of opportunities to emerge once banks begin to take action on their property loan portfolios," chief executive Francis Salway said. Property values in the six months to September declined by £118m or 1.4% from March, to cut the net asset value per share from 639p to 622p or on a diluted basis from 593p to 565p.The group posted a sharply lower loss of £4.6m against £1.62bn this time last year, but revenue profit fell to £128m from £152m.London was one bright spot with the London Portfolio valuation up by 0.5% over the period but the retail portfolio was down by 3.6% and voids ticked up slightly to 5.0% (4.8% at end March).