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(Alliance News) - British Land Co PLC on Wednesday said it swung to a loss as its portfolio valuation collapsed.
The London-based commercial property development and investment company reported a pretax loss for year ended March 31 of GBP1.03 billion, swinging from a profit of GBP963 million the year prior.
The firm saw GBP798 million in negative valuation movements, compared to a gain of GBP475 million the year prior, causing its swing to a loss. It also recorded a GBP467 million loss from joint ventures, compared to GBP247 million gain a year prior.
Revenue was GBP418 million, increasing 1.5% from GBP412 million a year ago.
The company declared a total dividend of 22.64 pence per share, up 3.3% from 21.92p a year ago.
Looking ahead, British Land said it continues to see future opportunities, but noted that continued macroeconomic uncertainty is likely to affect business over the coming year.
Chief Executive Simon Carter said: "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.
"Ultimately, value in real estate is created over the medium to long term. We like to invest in supply constrained segments with pricing power, where we can be market leaders and leverage our competitive strengths to generate attractive returns."
British Land shares fell 6.0% to 355.35 pence each in London on Wednesday morning.
By Harvey Dorset, Alliance News reporter
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