Profits rise for retail parks group
Real estate group British Land, which owns many shopping centres, saw underlying profit rise by 6.9 per cent to £264 million in its last financial year.
The group includes Walsall's Crown Wharf and the Queens Retail Park in Stafford.
Chief executive Simon Carter said: "I'm pleased we have delivered a good operational performance despite the challenging macroeconomic backdrop."
British Land leased 3.4 million sq ft of space in the year to the end of March and portfolio occupancy is now 96.7 per cent.
The group made disposals totalling £746m mainly at Paddington Central and recently bought £203m of high quality retail park, life sciences and London urban logistics assets at attractive prices.
"Higher interest rates have inevitably had an impact on property market yields and, as a result, the value of our portfolio declined by 12.3%. Whilst we remain mindful of ongoing macroeconomic challenges, the upward yield pressure appears to be easing and there are early signs of yield compression for retail parks," said Mr Carter.
The portfolio stood at £8.89 billion at year end.
"We are consolidating our position as the largest owner and operator of retail parks where scale is an advantage, and we are building a unique portfolio of centrally located and highly sustainable urban logistics schemes in London," added Mr Carter.
