REG - British Land Co PLC - Final Results

British LandAnnouncement

22/05/2025 07:00

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RNS Number : 6853J  British Land Co PLC  22 May 2025

The British Land Company PLC

 

22 May 2025

 

strong occupational fundamentals in our markets delivering above inflation
rental growth

Simon Carter, Chief Executive Officer said:

"I am pleased with our strong operational and financial performance this year.
We continue to lease space at rents significantly ahead of valuers'
expectations which, combined with good cost control and successful asset
management, means we have maintained our underlying earnings per share,
despite significant development activity which will be a key driver of future
earnings growth. Values increased 1.6%, with a particularly strong performance
from retail parks, up 7.1% and campuses returned to growth in the second half
of the year, increasing by 0.8%."

"The continued occupational strength of our key markets and the resulting
above inflation rental growth gives us confidence for the future and in our
strategy, despite ongoing macro volatility. Return to the office is in full
swing, with mid-week occupancy back to pre-pandemic levels, and value and
multi-channel retailers are competing aggressively for space on our retail
parks. This, combined with the acute lack of supply in both these markets is
resulting in strong rental tension, which will translate into future earnings
growth and underpins our guidance of 3-5% per annum rental growth across the
portfolio."

Financial

•    Underlying Profit £279m, up 4%

•    Underlying earnings per share 28.5p (FY24: 28.5p)

•    Dividend per share 22.80p (FY24: 22.80p)

•    EPRA cost ratio 17.5% (FY24: 16.4%)

•    Total property return +6.9% and total accounting return +5.0%

Balance sheet

•    EPRA Net Tangible Assets per share 567p, up 1%

•    LTV 38.1% (FY24: 37.3%)

•    Group Net Debt to EBITDA 8.0x (FY24: 6.8x)

•    £2.2bn of financing activity, of which £1.3bn new finance raised

•    £1.8bn undrawn facilities and cash, with no requirement to
refinance until late 2028

•    Fitch Senior Unsecured credit rating at 'A' with stable outlook
(affirmed July 2024)

CAPITAL ACTIVITY

•    £597m of disposals in FY25, including Meadowhall and stake in 2
Finsbury Avenue

•    £738m of retail parks acquired, at a blended net equivalent yield
of 7.1%

•    Raised £301m via an equity placing in October 2024

•    Progressing 2.4m sq ft committed development pipeline

operational metrics

•    Portfolio occupancy 98%(1): Campuses 97%(1), Retail & London
Urban Logistics 99%

•    Leased 3.3m sq ft, 8.6% ahead of ERV with 0.9m sq ft under offer,
15.0% ahead of ERV

•    Campus leasing: 1.5m sq ft, 7.5% ahead of ERV, with 0.3m sq ft under
offer, 9.2% ahead of ERV and as at 16 May 2025, a further 1.7m sq ft in
negotiations on 1.5m sq ft of space

•    Retail & London Urban Logistics leasing: 1.8m sq ft, 10.5% ahead
of ERV and 0.6m sq ft under offer, 18.4% ahead of ERV

•    Like-for-like net rental growth +3%: Campuses(2) +2%, Retail &
London Urban Logistics +5%

Portfolio VALUATION

•    Values up 1.6% (H1: +0.2% vs H2: +1.5%): Campuses -0.8%, Retail
& London Urban Logistics +5.0%, with Retail Parks +7.1%

•    Inflection in Campus valuations, largely driven by the development
pipeline, with values in H2 FY25 +0.8% (H1 FY25: -1.7%)

•    ERV growth of 4.9%: Campuses 4.3%, Retail & London Urban
Logistics 5.6%, with Retail Parks 6.0%

•    Net equivalent yield -4 bps to 6.1%: Campuses +14 bps to 5.6%,
Retail Parks & London Urban Logistics -27 bps to 6.6%

Sustainability

•    GRESB rating of 5* for both standing investments and developments,
scoring 100/100 for our developments

•    68% of the portfolio rated EPC A or B, up from 58% at FY24

Outlook

•    Reiterating guidance of 3-5% per annum ERV growth across the
portfolio

•    Expect FY26 Underlying earnings per share to be broadly flat, which
equates to Underlying Profit growth of 2%

•    Expect 3-6% per annum earnings growth in subsequent years, including
c.4p of Underlying earnings per share from developments in FY27

Summary performance

 Year ended                                            31 March    31 March    % Change

2025

                                                                   2024
 INCOME STATEMENT
 Underlying Profit(3)                                  £279m       £268m       4%
 Underlying earnings per share(3)                      28.5p       28.5p       -%
 IFRS profit after tax                                 £338m       £1m
 IFRS basic earnings per share                         35.1p       (0.1)p
 Dividend per share                                    22.80p      22.80p      -%
 Total accounting return(3)                            5.0%        (0.5)%

 As at                                                 31 March    31 March

2025
2024
 BALANCE SHEET
 Portfolio at valuation (proportionally consolidated)  £9,486m     £8,684m     1.6% (4)
 EPRA Net Tangible Assets per share(3)                 567p        562p        1%
 IFRS net assets                                       £5,710m     £5,312m
 Net Debt to EBITDA (Group)(5,6)                       8.0x        6.8x
 Loan to value (proportionally consolidated)(6,7)      38.1%       37.3%
 Fitch Senior Unsecured credit rating                  A           A

 Year ended                                            31 March    31 March

2025

                                                                   2024
 OPERATIONAL STATISTICS
 Lettings and renewals over 1 year                     2.8m sq ft  2.8m sq ft
 Total lettings and renewals                           3.3m sq ft  3.3m sq ft
 Committed and recently completed developments         3.3m sq ft  2.8m sq ft
 SUSTAINABILITY PERFORMANCE
 MSCI ESG                                              AAA rating  AAA rating
 GRESB (standing investments / developments)           5* / 5*     5* / 5*

 

1. Occupancy excludes recently completed developments at Norton Folgate,
Aldgate, The Priestley Centre, The Optic and Dock Shed at Canada Water.

2. Campuses excluding Storey.

3. See Note 2 to the condensed financial statements for definition and
calculation.

4. Valuation movement during the year (after taking account of capex) of
properties held at the balance sheet date including developments (classified
by end use), purchases and sales.

5. Net Debt to EBITDA on a Group basis excludes joint venture borrowings and
includes distributions and other receivables from joint ventures.

6. See Note 8 to the condensed financial statements for definition,
calculation and reference to IFRS metrics.

7. EPRA Loan to value is disclosed in Table E of the condensed financial
statements.

 

Dividends

Our dividend is semi-annual, and in line with our dividend policy, is
calculated at 80% of Underlying EPS based on the most recently completed
six-month period. Applying this policy, the Board are proposing a final
dividend for the year ended 31 March 2025 of 10.56p per share, bringing the
total dividend to 22.80p per share for the year. Payment will be made on
Friday 25 July 2025 to shareholders on the register at close of business on
Friday 20 June 2025. 8.56p will be payable as a Property Income Distribution
and 2.00p will be payable as a non-Property Income Distribution. A Dividend
Reinvestment Plan (DRIP) is provided by Equiniti Financial Services Limited
which enables the Company's shareholders to elect to have their cash dividend
payments used to purchase the Company's shares. More information can be found
at www.shareview.co.uk/info/drip.

full unedited text

In accordance with DTR 6.3.5 (1A), the full unedited final results for the
year ended 31 March 2025 will shortly be available to download from the
National Storage Mechanism. A copy is also available on the Company's website:
https://www.britishland.com/news/full-year-results-2025 and
here: http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/6853J_1-2025-5-21.pdf
(http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/6853J_1-2025-5-21.pdf)

Results Presentation and Investor Conference Call

A presentation of the results will take place at 9am on Thursday 22 May 2025
at London Stock Exchange, 10 Paternoster Square, London, EC4M 7LS and will be
broadcast live via webcast and conference call. The details for the conference
call and webcast are as follows:

UK Toll Free Number:        0800 260 6466

International:                      +44 20 3481 4247

Conference ID:                   98929

Click for access:                 Webcast link
(https://sparklive.lseg.com/BritishLandCo/events/6cebb0ef-665e-480f-9e31-c8d806354318/british-land-co-plc-full-year-results-presentation)

A replay and accompanying slides will be made available at Britishland.com

 

For Information Contact

Investors

Jonty McNuff, British Land                               07931
684 272

 

Media

Charlotte Whitley, British Land
07887 802 535

 

 

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