Underlying profits up for British Land
The owner of retails parks in Stafford and Walsall has seen growth in profits for its latest half year.
Property company British Land's underlying profit grew 13.3 per cent to £136 million in the six months to the end of September.
Its portfolio includes Queens Retail park at Stafford and Crown Wharf, Walsall.
Chief executive Simon Carter said: "Our good operational performance in the half reflects the high quality of our portfolio and reinforces our conviction in our value-add strategy which is focused on sectors with pricing power. We delivered five per cent like-for-like net rental growth and leased 1.5 million sq ft of space."
He said higher interest rates had increased property yields, but the impact on valuations was partially cushioned by rental growth.
Retail Parks continued to benefit from retailers' focus on omni-channel and affordability.
"We go into the second half with a strong leasing pipeline, but mindful of the weaker macro environment in which we are operating. Well-timed disposals strengthened our balance sheet and combined with the quality of our platform and our continued commitment to capital recycling, mean we are well placed to exploit our attractive development pipeline and the opportunities now emerging in the market," added Mr Carter.
British Land's portfolio value was down three per cent for the half year to £9.64 billion.
