Land Securities will continue selling off office space
After reporting that Land Securities suffered pre-tax losses that total up to £4.77b, chief executive Francis Salway announced that the company will continue to sell of its assets throughout the end of the year and that they do not have any properties that they would not consider selling.
The fall was much worse than city investors had expected, and comes in light of the recent sale of four properties of Land Securities:
Land Securities usually operates via its retail property and warehouses, shopping centres, shops in outer London areas, and other regional portfolios, however the economy’s destructive effects on the development and building sector of the UK is beginning to wear on the company. Some argue that the credit crunch has brought a wealth of opportunity for businesses looking to relocate or expand their business, and with the slump in commercial rents recently reaching a 16-year low commercial estate agents are now offering office space at a fraction of what it used to cost. If you are considering relocation or refurbishment, specialists firms such as Claremont will guide you through setting up the project and seeing it through to conclusion - click on office planning for more detail.
Near the end of May Land Securities sold off a building at 22 Kingsway, London for a profit of £39 million and sold the Aintree Racecourse Retail Park for £61 million on Wednesday which is a positive start to the company’s quest to raise about £370 million in the next twelve months from asset sales.
Land Securities is plagued by the underperforming UK commercial property market which is causing some concern among company shareholders and executives as reports have surfaced that Salway is in danger of losing his job, but the company denied the rumours in a statement.
Salway believes that low rents are a major problem for the company, but given the next year’s projections and the economic recession hope may not quite yet be on the horizon.
