Land Securities beat forecasts today with an 11% rise in half-year net asset value and said it would increase its dividend by 30% when it converts to a REIT.
The UK’s largest property company posted a 10.9% increase in net asset value to 2121p a share for the six months to 30 September, which was 1.65% above the analysts' consensus forecast of 2088p.
‘These are a very very good set of results and they are well prepared for REIT conversion,’ said Lehman Brothers analyst Mike Prew.
The growth was driven by a 7.3% increase in the value of the portfolio to £14.4bn. The investment portfolio outperformed the Investment Property Databank index by 1.1%, producing a return of 10%.
The top performer in the investment portfolio was London offices, which rose by 10.8% in value.
Pretax profits were down 0.5% to £1.18bn, although before one-off items they were up 23%. The interim dividend has been raised 4.7% to 19p a share.
Future dividends will be higher, when LandSecs becomes a REIT next year. It will pay out to shareholders all the money it will save in tax, which it estimates will see the dividend increase by 30%.
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