Sector movers: Property stocks gain as Land Secs jumps to four-year high

15th May 2013 14:51

Land Securities was trading at levels not seen in over four years after its full-year results on Wednesday, providing a big boost to the real estate sector.The commercial property group, which has a portfolio of shopping centres, retail parks and office accommodation, this morning revealed a 4.6% rise in adjusted diluted net asset value per share to 959p in the year to March 31st, well ahead of the consensus estimate of 859p. The strong result was driven mainly by an increase in the value of its investment properties, profits on disposal of trading properties and adjusted earnings.Earnings per share of 36.8p, while down 4.4% year-on-year, were still ahead of the 35.7p forecast."There has been no let-up in the pace of our activity in the new financial year and I am confident of delivering success," said Land Securities' Chief Executive Robert Noel.The company, which has a market capitalisation of nearly £7.7bn, was up 5.03% at 981.5p by 14:58 on Wednesday, a level not reached since November 2008."With several high profile development projects in the offing for the remainder of the year, shareholders will be hopeful of further growth over the remainder of 2013," said Matt Basi, head of UK Sales Trading at CMC Markets.The FTSE 350 real estate sector has performed solidly over the past year with the category gaining over 30% in value. In the last month alone, the sector was risen nearly 11%.Quintain Estates, the small-cap London-focused regeneration specialist due to report its full-year results next Thursday, was another high riser in the sector today, up 5.99% at 75.25p.Sector peers St Modwen Properties, Unite and Great Portland Estates were also making decent gains today.Meanwhile, British Land, which fell yesterday after its own results showed little growth on the year before, was rebounding slightly this afternoon. Investec downgraded its rating for the stock yesterday from 'buy' to 'reduce', saying that the results showed "anaemic growth" that was "boringly in line with expectations".Top performing sectors so far todayReal Estate Investment Trusts 2,547.16 +2.13%Technology Hardware & Equipment 1,255.98 +1.75%Financial Services 7,197.38 +1.43%Health Care Equipment & Services 4,331.11 +1.03%Personal Goods 22,314.87 +1.03%Bottom performing sectors so far todayIndustrial Metals & Mining 1,751.61 -4.03%Mining 16,661.25 -1.64%Electricity 9,915.66 -1.19%Food & Drug Retailers 4,642.05 -1.16%Oil Equipment, Services & Distribution 23,453.08 -1.02%