British Land defends “operationally strong year” despite £1bn loss
British Land has praised an “operationally strong year”, despite recording a loss of £1.04bn for the 2023 financial year.
This was a decrease on a profit of £965m recorded in 2022.
British Land said the movement from profit to loss reflected the downward valuation of its properties and joint ventures as property values adjusted to a higher rate environment.
Despite a “challenging macroeconomic environment”, the real estate investment trust (REIT) achieved record leasing volumes and signed 1.2 million sq ft of deals at retail parks. British Land said the completed deals were 19.5% ahead of estimated rental value and 9.7% below previous passing rent.
British Land’s retail park occupancy reached 18.8%, the highest level in 12 years, with like-for-like income up 6.2%. Across shopping centres, the REIT completed 991,000 sq ft of deals at 18.5% higher than estimated rental value.
British Land said that footfall (95.6%) and sales (108.4%) were almost on par with pre-Pandemic levels recorded in 2019.
Simon Carter, British Land chief executive, said: “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”