British Land Co PLC Final Results

The British Land Company PLC Full Year Results

Delivery against strategy driving strong performance

18 May 2022

Simon Carter, CEO said: “Over the past year we have delivered a strong performance across all parts of our business as we continue to execute against our strategy. Our total accounting return for the year was 14.8% driven by a 6.8% increase in the valuation of our portfolio and Underlying Profit is up 24.9%. Our balance sheet remains strong with pro forma loan to value of 28.4%. Operationally, our leasing volumes across Campuses and Retail & Fulfilment were the highest in ten years and were ahead of ERV. In London, demand continues to gravitate towards the best, most sustainable space where our Campuses are at a distinct advantage. Retail Parks are an attractive, cost-effective format for our retail customers reflected in our very low vacancy of 2.6%, so we are particularly pleased with our decision to allocate capital to this segment, where valuations have increased 20.7%. The fundamentals of Urban Logistics in London are compelling given the chronic shortage of space. We have made a good start to building our Urban Logistics business where we have assembled a c.£1.3bn development pipeline in 12 months.

We are active recyclers of capital, releasing over £1bn since April 2021 to invest into higher value-creating opportunities in development and growth segments of the market. We have a wealth of development opportunities across our London Campuses, including Canada Water and in Urban Logistics which altogether we expect will generate around £2bn of future profit.

We are mindful of current elevated economic and geo-political uncertainties, but our strategic advantage in sectors with pricing power means we can look ahead with confidence.”

Performance summary

£2.2bn capital activity – actively recycling capital into areas of growth and value

–  £694m from the sale of 75% of majority of assets at Paddington Central to GIC post year end, crystallising 9% p.a. total property returns

–  £290m from the sale of 50% of our share in the Canada Water Masterplan to AustralianSuper, enabling us to accelerate delivery and returns from the scheme

–  On site with 1.7m sq ft of net zero carbon developments across our Campuses; 91% of costs fixed

–  £102m of acquisitions in Cambridge and Guildford, building exposure to innovation sectors; on site with first lab enabled scheme

–  £350m investment into Retail Parks in the year with a further £49m in FY21, exploiting the value opportunity

–  Assembled an urban logistics development pipeline with a gross development value of £1.3bn, focused on London where the supply-demand imbalance is most acute

Strong operational performance – key themes playing out

–  Portfolio value up 6.8% with Campuses up 5.4% and Retail & Fulfilment up 9.9% driven by Retail Parks up 20.7%

–  42bps yield contraction overall; 11 bps yield contraction in Campuses; 151bps yield contraction in Retail Parks

–  1.7m sq ft of Campus leasing, highest volume in 10 years; 5.4% ahead of ERV; average lease length over 12 years

–  2.2m sq ft Retail & Fulfilment leasing, highest volume in 10 years, 2.8% ahead of ERV; Retail Park vacancy down to 2.6%

–  Footfall and sales on our Retail Parks portfolio 99.5% and 100.2% of FY20, respectively

–  Strong rent collection: 97% for the year, nearing pre-pandemic levels, significantly reducing provisions

Excellent financial performance and strong balance sheet

–  14.8% Total Accounting Return, underpinned by our strategic activity

–  Underlying Profit up 24.9% reflecting a significant reduction in provisions

–  EPRA Net Tangible Assets (NTA) up 12.2% to 727p

–  FY22 dividend of 21.92p per share

–  Pro forma LTV at 28.4% adjusting for the Paddington Central transaction

–  £1.3bn undrawn facilities and cash. Interest rate on our debt fully hedged on a spot basis with no requirement to refinance until late 2025 following the Paddington transaction

–  Fitch affirmed senior unsecured credit rating at 'A'

Further good progress against 2030 Sustainability strategy

–  Awarded GRESB 5* rating and AAA rating from MSCI

–  Delivered our second net zero carbon development at 1 Triton Square, fully let to Meta (previously Facebook)

–  Further accolades for 100 Liverpool Street including Green Building Project of the Year by BusinessGreen, Project of the Year at the Building Awards, a Civic Trust Award and Financing Deal of the Year: UK by Real Estate Capital Europe for 2021.

–  Completed net zero audits at our major assets; 70% portfolio now EPC A-C rated

–  First UK REIT to achieve the Disability Smart Standard accreditation from the Business Disability Forum

Summary performance

1.  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 and sales.

2.  See Note 2 to the financial statements.

3.  Following the sale of a 75% interest in the majority of our assets at Paddington Central, LTV falls to 28.4% on a pro forma basis.