British Land defensively positioned

published 9 February 2012

Occupancy, income, estimated rental value and, most importantly of all, underlying profits all rose in the third quarter of property group British Land.

Underlying profit before tax in the October to December quarter rose 6.3% to £68m from £654m the year before. The met asset value per share climbed 8.2% to 593p from 548p a year earlier. The company declared an unchanged third quarter dividend of 6.5p, as previously indicated.

"Of course, the current economic outlook is uncertain, but overall our business is defensively positioned today and will benefit further as economic growth returns," claimed Chris Grigg, the real estate investment trust's Chief Executive Officer.