British Land 3rd QTR Trading Statement

[idpickering]

"Chris Grigg, Chief Executive said: "British Land has had a positive quarter reflecting the strong positioning of our portfolio and our engagement with occupiers and consumers. We have completed over 400,000 sq ft of lettings across the business and are progressing discussions with a broad range of occupiers. Retail footfall and sales growth continue to outperform industry benchmarks and we have made further disposals of non-core assets and residential units ahead of valuation. The business is well placed; we remain mindful of potential headwinds going forward."



Quality portfolio attracting strong occupier demand

• 314,000 sq ft of Retail lettings and renewals, 8.7% ahead of ERV; a further 189,000 sq ft under offer.

• Retailer sales for the quarter were up 0.6% year on year outperforming the benchmark by 200 bps; footfall for the quarter was -0.6% year on year outperforming the benchmark by 220 bps.

• 51,000 sq ft of Office lettings and renewals, in-line with ERV. 7 Clarges Street offices now over 80% let or under offer at an average rent of £113 psf, in line with pre-referendum ERVs.

• Leasing discussions with a wide range of occupiers are progressing across our London campuses; ten major discussions are under way totalling 1.4 million sq ft.

• Enabling works commenced on the 520,000 sq ft redevelopment of 100 Liverpool Street."

Full item here;

http://www.investegate.co.uk/british-la ... 00105474U/

disc - I hold.

[tjh290633]

Also from that link:

Note 1 - Dividend

The third interim dividend payment for the quarter ended 31 December 2016 will be 7.30 pence per share, a 3.0% increase on the comparable period last year. The third interim dividend will be paid on 5 May 2017 to shareholders on the register at close of business on 31 March 2017. The current issued share capital (excluding Treasury shares) is 1,029,760,766 ordinary shares of 25p each. An announcement on the split between PID and non-PID along with the availability of any scrip dividend alternative will be made no later than 4 business days before the ex-dividend date of 30 March 2017.

TJH

[Dod1010]

All of which sounds reassuring thank you.

Dod

[spiderbill]

All of which sounds reassuring thank you.

Dod

Yes, seems so. So of course the price drops 3%. Funny old game Brian.

Spiderbill (small recent position - would buy more if I had any ISA allowance left)

[idpickering]

All of which sounds reassuring thank you.

Dod

Yes, seems so. So of course the price drops 3%. Funny old game Brian.

Spiderbill (small recent position - would buy more if I had any ISA allowance left)

My revised plan is a top up of BLND next month.

Ian.

[Breelander]

Also from that link:
...The third interim dividend payment for the quarter ended 31 December 2016 will be 7.30 pence per share, a 3.0% increase on the comparable period last year...

All of which sounds reassuring thank you.

All of which was entirely predictable, actually. BLND pays four equal quarterly dividends and the full year dividend for 2016/2017 was set by the board in May last year.

Full year dividend of 29.20 pence per share proposed for 2016/17, +3.0%; first quarter 7.30 pence

http://www.investegate.co.uk/british-la ... 00082773Y/

The reassurance I will be looking for would be in the Finals this May...

Bree. (holds BLND)

[Dod1010]

I said all of which...... I was not simply referring to the dividend which as Bree say we knew about. The rest of the statement contains no disasters or even hiccups that I can see. Still, I am not sure that I would be buying it at the moment as we are already seeing the threat of London jobs moving to Continental Europe and that will have an effect on the London property market in time. I daresay that if you really want a property company it is probably as good as any.

I hold it and will hang on to it I expect.

Dod

[Breelander]

I said all of which...
...The rest of the statement contains no disasters or even hiccups that I can see.

Nor does it contain any discussion of the impact of Brexit. Such statements seem to be only made in the Finals, as was the case in last May's...

Looking forward, we remain confident in the underlying strength of the business despite continued global macro uncertainty and the potentially adverse impact of a vote for the UK to leave the European Union....

...I'll be very interested to see what they say this year.