British Land is bullish on rents

BRITISH Land, one of the City's biggest landlords, today forecast a pick-up in rental values in the battered central London offices market at the end of this year.

The prediction is one of the property sector's most optimistic. Rival Land Securities said last week that it did not expect a recovery for two years.

British Land chairman and chief executive John Ritblat also delivered forecast-beating annual figures with net asset value per share, a key industry measure, surging 12.5% to 966p.

Pre-tax profits for the year to end-March rose 6.7% to £186m and the full-year dividend is lifted 8.2% to 10.07p.

'After a quieter period, our City of London investments have stabilised and are now poised to resume growth,' Ritblat said.

He had no further news on succession plans following the decision two weeks ago of Investcorp's Philip Yea not to become chief executive of British Land. Ritblat agreed last year to split the chairman and chief executive roles, with him continuing as chairman.