British Land, which is rumoured to be the target of a ₤10 billion takeover by Middle East and Asian businessmen, announced that its losses for the first quarter of 2009 have come down to ₤273 million from ₤565 million for the same period last year.
The results are a relief to many analysts, following similar results from other UK real estate companies like Hammerson, Liberty International, and Land Securities. Experts say the trend indicates that the UK property market may finally be coming out of its worst slump in history (click for offices to rent London details), after having turned negative since June 2007.
Another piece of good news brought by British Land’s report is the fact that its net asset value in terms of real estate holdings has decreased only by 9%. The company in fact reports that more than ₤3 billion in real estate assets have actually appreciated in value, paving the way for better future earnings from these office space properties. This is definitely good news for market analysts who saw the company’s share prices fall to 361p in the last three months. The retail portfolio value of the company currently stands at ₤447 million.
6% of British Land’s revenues come from rent paid by retail chains Tesco and Sainsbury. Other key clients include the Royal Bank of Scotland and UBS, a Swiss investment bank. The company also holds retail property in Scotland.