British Land beats profit expectations as AI boom lifts demand for office space (updated)

British Land Public

20/05/2026 07:20

Corrects to say strong rental growth, not a slowdown, in paragraph 2

May 20 (Reuters) - Real estate group British Land Company BLND.L reported annual profit above market estimates on Wednesday, bolstered by robust demand for office spaces from a booming AI and technology industry.

Demand from AI and technology firms like Claude creator Anthropic for office space in London has helped British Land as its retail parks approach full occupancy, leading to strong rental growth.

The company stuck to its 2027 earnings forecast, even as it reported an underlying profit of £294 million ($393.6 million) for the year ended March 31, compared with analyst expectations of £291 million, according to a company-compiled consensus.

($1 = 0.7469 pounds)

(Reporting by Raechel Thankam Job and Prerna Bedi in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu and Sherry Jacob-Phillips)

((RaechelThankam.Job@thomsonreuters.com;))