Occupancy hits 20-year high at Landsec

(Sharecast News) - Land Securities forecast further growth in rents on Thursday, despite the macroeconomic backdrop, on the back of robust customer demand and record occupancy levels.

Posting numbers for the year to 31 March, the blue chip landlord said EPRA earnings came in at £382m, up from £374m a year previously, while earnings per share rose 2.2% to 51.4p, at the top end of guidance.

Like-for-like net rental income rose 5.5%, while occupancy rose 100 basis points to 97.7%

Mark Allan, chief executive, said: "Over the past few years we have actively positioned Landsec for a higher inflation and higher interest rate world. We have focused our portfolio on the best-quality locations where customer demand is highest, scaled back development, reduced our overhead costs and maintained our strong capital base.

"Occupancy is now up to a 20-year high and rents are growing at their fastest pace in nearly two decades."

Looking to the current year, Landsec - which owns swathes of office space in central London as well as retail and leisure destinations outside of the capital - said it expected like-for-like net rent to grow by around 3.5%, "with no slowdown in customer demand".

It also reiterated forecasts for stable EPRA EPS, as underlying growth is offset by the sale of the Queen Anne's Mansions finance lease.

Allan concluded: "Despite elevated geopolitical risks, we remain confident in the potential to deliver around 5% compound annual growth rate in EPRA EPS between now and 2030."

As at 0830 BST, the stock was up 1% at 578p.

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