Property giant optimistic despite £888m pre-tax loss revealed in preliminary results

Property giant Land Securities said it has “performed well” in the current market conditions despite being forced to record a £900m pre-tax loss as the value of its assets fell.

Land Securities preliminary results today showed a pre-tax loss of £888.8m following a write-down of £1.28bn in the value of the property it owns, a fall in value of 10.3%.

Discounting the write-down, profits on revenue fell by 3.3% to £379.1m. Chief executive Francis Salway said the results were a “considerable success in the face of a sharply falling market”.

Shares in the company actually rose marginally on publication of the results, which they claimed outperformed the market. The IPD has reported average commercial property values falling 16.8% in the year, compared to the 10.3% registered by Land Securities.

The firm also said the demerger of its property services business Trillium was progressing well.

Topics