British Land held its earnings guidance steady and reported strong leasing ahead of its AGM, but shares fell amid broader market jitters.
Shares in British Land Company PLC (BLND.L) dipped on Tuesday, after the FTSE 100 landlord published an operational update ahead of its annual general meeting showing leasing momentum had carried into the new financial year, alongside reaffirmed profit guidance.
The stock was trading at 416p on Tuesday morning, down 1.5% from Monday’s close of 422.4p. That leaves shares below the 429p 52-week high reached earlier this year, though still well above the 301p 52-week low.
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Leasing momentum continues
In the operational update covering the three months to 30 June, published ahead of Tuesday’s AGM, British Land said it had completed 567,000 sq ft of leasing in the quarter, 8.7% ahead of previous passing rent, with a further 1.1m sq ft under offer, 6.8% ahead of estimated rental value. Chief executive Simon Carter said: “We have started the year well, with momentum continuing from the end of our last financial year. Both of our core markets remain strong.” The company said it remained confident of delivering underlying earnings per share of at least 30.5p for the year, with like-for-like rent growth on track for the top of its 3% to 5% target range.
That 30.5p guidance figure was first set in April and has now been reiterated unchanged for a second time, having already been confirmed at May’s full-year results. The update also disclosed British Land had purchased Telford Bridge retail park for £30m and sold or exchanged £83m of assets in the quarter.
British Land shares have climbed for much of the past year on the back of the April guidance upgrade, stronger-than-expected full-year results in May and demand from AI-linked office tenants including Anthropic. Barclays raised its rating to overweight in May with a 465p price target, while Hargreaves Lansdown analyst Aarin Chiekrie has pointed to the company’s high occupancy and dividend yield.
The stock was down 2% at 416p shortly after Tuesday’s update, with the wider FTSE 100 also under pressure from an oil price jump tied to renewed US-Iran tensions, according to Investing.com. Carter, who is stepping down in September after five years as chief executive to join P3 Logistics Parks, said he was handing over to incoming boss Joanne McNamara “with great confidence.”
Attention now turns to whether British Land can sustain that leasing momentum as McNamara, who joins from Oxford Properties, takes charge. With guidance already reaffirmed twice since April, the coming months will show whether new leadership can keep those growth promises on track.