UK's Landsec's property valuations miss expectations, bets on retail growth

Landsec's Property Valuations Miss, Retail Growth Expected

By Yamini Kalia and Simone Lobo

(Reuters) -Land Securities' overall annual property valuations slightly missed expectations on Friday, and the British commercial landlord said it plans to invest more in retail properties as store chains are expanding in premium locations.

The company has been shedding non-core assets as growth in office space remains weaker in comparison to retail and residential counterparts after the pandemic.

CEO Mark Allan called the company's retail segment the "strongest performing part" of its portfolio, and said he expects the firm to benefit from retailers renting space in premium shopping centres and malls.

"Retailers have to be in locations where consumers are spending money and that's what's driving the trend for fewer, better, bigger stores in the very best locations that has been underway for some time now," Allan said in a media call.

Landsec plans to invest more in its retail and residential property assets over the next few years, and recently acquired one of the UK's premier shopping centres, Liverpool ONE.

Landsec's EPRA net tangible assets - an industry measure that represents the value of its buildings - stood at 874 pence per share as of the end of March, below expectations of 890 pence, as per a company-compiled poll.

Its shares were down 1.7% by 0849 GMT.

Analysts at JPMorgan said that while the company is growing, the brokerage expects some low single digit percentage adjustments down in market expectations for fiscal 2026 following the small miss in property valuations.

Landsec expects rental values for office properties to continue to grow at a broadly similar rate this year as they did last, citing "modest" supply across London.

Pre-tax profit for the year ended March 31 came to 393 million pounds ($523.8 million), compared to a loss of 341 million pounds last year.

($1 = 0.7519 pounds)

(Reporting by Yamini Kalia and Simone Lobo in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala and Susan Fenton)