Back in the black: London landlord Landsec posts record office leasing in capital
Property giant Landsec has delivered record office leasing in London as the company returned to profit after five years.
Pre-tax profit rose to £875m in the year to the end of March, a turnaround from a £1.39bn loss the previous year.
Landsec, which is the landlord for big names in the capital including Deutsche Bank, saw shares dip 0.081 per cent on Tuesday afternoon.
The company was hammered hard when the Covid pandemic saw workers told to remain at home.
The commercial property firm’s chief executive, Mark Allan, said the strong operational and financial results came “despite the turbulence within the UK economy.”
“The actions we have taken, driven by our strategic focus on three distinct areas have resulted in record leasing in our London office portfolio, a return to growth in our major retail destinations and clear, substantive progress in growing our mixed-use urban neighbourhood portfolio,” Allan added.
Landsec’s pipeline now offered an opportunity to inject some £3bn investment into “sustainable” London offices and mixed-use development over the next five years, Allan added.
A “mid to high” single digit annual return on equity over time was forecast.
It comes as companies have backed the future London office working with Picton snapping up a £13m office site in Hammersmith and the Battersea Power Station revealing home tech firm SharkNinja as a future tenant.