Land Securities losses widen with work-from-home measures
Commercial property firm Land Securities has seen its full-year loss widened this morning, as its London-centric office portfolio crumbled under work-from-home measures.
The FTSE 100 firm has reported a loss before tax of £1.39bn for the 12 months ending 31 March, compared with a loss of £837m the year before.
The pandemic pushed many companies into remote working mode, which drove down revenue by 39.4 per cent to £251m.
The group, which has a combined portfolio valued at £10.8bn, saw its like-for-like net rental income plunge £165m by 30.4 per cent.
Meanwhile, it reported a drop of 9.6 per cent in its ungeared total property return.
“Our results for the year to March 2021 clearly reflect the challenges caused by both the pandemic and the associated restrictions,” chief executive Mark Allan said.
This morning Land Securities was up slightly by 0.06 per cent, sitting at 715.40p per share.
In its financial results released this morning, the group confirmed it enjoyed a full-year dividend of 27.0p per share, up from 23.2p in 2020.
Despite the blow of the pandemic, the group is set to bolster its central London portfolio, and branch further into the retail spaces. Investor interest in the London office market remains high, the group said.
“We are now entering the recovery phase. Government action to support the economy was swift and the speed of the ongoing vaccination programme impressive. As a result, there is the real prospect of a strong consumption-led recovery across the remainder of 2021 and 2022,” Allan added.