London office squeeze boosts Land Securities
Land Securities is "firing on all cylinders" and poised to benefit from an even bigger squeeze on London office space than first thought over the next two years, the property giant said today.
The UK's biggest property company impressed the City with strong results and reckons its 1.7 million sq ft development programme in the capital will be timed to perfection to meet demand, which is expected to peak in the middle of 2012.
Chief executive Francis Salway said the shortage was "even more acute" than originally forecast and is in early talks with potential tenants for its Walkie-Talkie skyscraper, due for completion in early 2014.
Three other major schemes are due for completion by early 2013.
The shortage was seen in rising rental values across its £10 billion-plus portfolio as vacancy rates head in the opposite direction.
Just 3.7% of its London office space was empty at the end of March, down from 4.9% a year earlier.
Pre-tax profits jumped 15% £1.23 billion for the year to March 31, while rising property values pushed its net asset value per share up to 826p, which was well ahead of City hopes.
The company's shares rose more than 5%, putting on 41.5p to 789p.
