BLND British Land Company Plc

22 May 2024

strategy delivering: strong rental growth, STABLE values in H2

Simon Carter, CEO said:

"Our strategy of focusing on campuses, retail parks and London urban logistics is delivering.

ERV growth accelerated to 5.9%, exceeding our guidance in all sectors. We outperformed the MSCI benchmark by 300 basis points and values were stable in the second half. Our operational momentum continues with high occupancy, strong leasing and good cost discipline driving Underlying Profit growth of 2%.

We have achieved much this year - the surrender and joint venture of 1 Triton Square, the commitment to 2 Finsbury Avenue following the record breaking pre-let to Citadel, and the sale of Meadowhall are all good examples of our active approach to capital recycling. As a result, 93% of our portfolio is now in our chosen markets.

Although the geopolitical and economic landscape remains uncertain, with a portfolio net equivalent yield over 6%, 3-5% forecast rental growth and development upside, we expect to generate attractive future returns."

Financial

•    Underlying Profit of £268m up 2%

•    EPRA cost ratio 16.4% vs 19.5% in FY23

•    Underlying earnings per share of 28.5p up 1%

•    Dividend per share of 22.8p up 1%

Balance sheet

•    EPRA Net Tangible Assets per share of 562p down 4.4% in the year

•    Pro forma Loan To Value 34.6%¹ and FY24 Loan To Value at 37.3% (FY23 36.0%)

•    Pro forma Group Net Debt to EBITDA¹ 6.4x and FY24 Group Net Debt to EBITDA 6.8x (FY23 6.4x)

•    Fitch Senior Unsecured credit rating at 'A' with stable outlook (affirmed August 2023)

•    £1.9bn undrawn facilities and cash, with £1bn of financing activity in the year

•    Interest rate on our debt fully hedged for FY25 and 86% hedged on average over the next five years

CAPITAL ACTIVITY

•    Disposal proceeds in FY24 of £410m, 11% above book value on average

•    Sale of 50% stake in Meadowhall Shopping Centre to Norges for £360m, expected to complete in July 2024

•    Acquisition of Westwood Retail Park, Thanet for £55m at a net initial yield of 8.1%

operational metrics

•    Portfolio occupancy 97%²: Campuses 96%², Retail Parks 99%, London Urban Logistics 100%

•    Leased 3.3m sq ft, 15.1% ahead of ERV

•    Campus leasing 679,000 sq ft, 8.7% ahead of ERV; a further 316,000 sq ft signed since 31 March 2024, 13.1% ahead of ERV

•    Campus under offers as of 17 May 2024, 544,000 sq ft, 9.3% ahead of ERV, with a further 806,000 sq ft in negotiations

•    Retail & London Urban Logistics leasing 2.6m sq ft, 17.8% ahead of ERV, and 493,000 sq ft under offer, 17.9% ahead of ERV

Portfolio VALUATION

•    ERV growth of 5.9%: Campuses 5.4%, Retail Parks 7.2%, London Urban Logistics 10.0%

•    NEY³ +33bps to 6.2%: Campuses +50 bps to 5.5%, Retail Parks +12 bps to 6.7%, London Urban Logistics +24 bps to 4.9%

•    Values -2.6%: Campuses -5.3%, Retail Parks +2.7% and London Urban Logistics +3.7%

•    H2 values -0.2%: Campuses -1.5%, Retail Parks +2.5% and London Urban Logistics +3.1%

•    Outperformed MSCI All Property total return benchmark by 300 bps, and 800 bps on a sector weighted basis

Sustainability

•    GRESB rating of 5* for both Standing Investments and Developments

•    58% of the portfolio rated EPC A or B, up from 45% at FY23, and we expect to increase to around 64% in FY25⁴

•    New 2030 Social Value Target to generate £200m of direct value of which 50% is social and 50% is economic

Outlook

•    FY25 ERV guidance of 3-5% growth in each of our markets 

•  Comfortable with market expectations for FY25 Underlying EPS of 27.9p

•    Expect committed and recently completed developments⁵ to deliver 4.5p of EPS, of which 2.6p will be in FY26

Summary performance

1. Proportionally consolidated LTV and Group Net Debt to EBITDA pro forma for the sale of our 50% stake in Meadowhall Shopping Centre contracted to complete in July 2024

2. Occupancy excludes recently completed developments at Norton Folgate and 3 Sheldon Square

3. Net Equivalent Yield

4. Measured by ERV

5. Committed (including post period end commitment of 2 Finsbury Avenue) and completed developments including near term development of 1 Triton Square

6. See Note 2 to the condensed financial statements for definition and calculation

7. Valuation movement during the year (after taking account of capex) of properties held at the balance sheet date, including developments (classified by end use), purchases, sales and surrender premium received at 1 Triton Square         

8. Net Debt to EBITDA on a Group basis excludes non-recourse and joint venture borrowings and includes distributions and other receivables from non-recourse companies and joint ventures

9. See Note 2 to the condensed financial statements for definition, calculation and reference to IFRS metrics

10. EPRA Loan to value is disclosed in Table E of the condensed financial statements

BOARD

During the year we have had a series of changes to the Board. William Rucker has been appointed as Chair Designate to succeed Tim Score who will step down after the 2024 AGM after 10 years on the Board and five years as Chair. I would like to thank Tim for his excellent advice and support during his tenure as Chair and welcome William, whose experience and insights will be very valuable as we continue to execute our strategy.

We would like to extend a warm welcome to Amanda Mackenzie, Mary Ricks and Amanda James who have been appointed as independent Non-Executive Directors. The Board will benefit hugely from the depth and breadth of their experience. We would also like to thank Laura Wade-Gery for her significant contribution; she will step down as Non-Executive Director in July at the 2024 AGM after nine years on the Board and we wish her well in her future endeavours. Amanda Mackenzie will become Chair of the Remuneration Committee at the conclusion of the 2024 AGM.

Dividends

Our dividend is semi-annual, and in line with our dividend policy, is calculated at 80% of Underlying EPS based on the most recently completed six-month year. Applying this policy, the Board are proposing a final dividend for the year ended 31 March 2024 of 10.64p per share. Payment will be made on Friday 26 July 2024 to shareholders on the register at close of business on Friday 21 June 2024. The dividend will be a Property Income Distribution. A Dividend Reinvestment Plan (DRIP) is provided by Equiniti Financial Services Limited which enables the Company's shareholders to elect to have their cash dividend payments used to purchase the Company's shares. More information can be found at www.shareview.co.uk/info/drip.  

full unedited text

In accordance with DTR 6.3.5 (1A), the full unedited final results for the year ended 31 March 2024 will shortly be available to download from the National Storage Mechanism. A copy is also available on the Company's website: https://britishland.com/news/press-releases/full-year-results-2024 and here: http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/3720P_1-2024-5-21.pdf

Results Presentation and Investor Conference Call

A presentation of the results will take place at 8.30am on Wednesday 22 May 2024 at Peel Hunt, 100 Liverpool Street, Broadgate and will be broadcast live via webcast (www.britishland.com) and conference call. The details for the conference call and weblink are as follows:

UK Toll Free Number:        0800 358 1035

International:                      +44 20 3936 2999

Access code:                      238950

Click for access:                 Audio weblink

A dial in replay will be available later in the day for 7 days. The details are as follows:

Replay number:                   020 3936 3001

Passcode:                            867542

Accompanying slides will be made available at Britishland.com just prior to the event starting.

For Information Contact

Investors

Sandra Moura, British Land                                              07989 755535

Media

Charlotte Whitley, British Land                                          07887 802535
Guy Lamming/Gordon Simpson, FGS Global                   020 7251 3801

BritishLand-UK@fgsglobal.co