Strong performance at British Land

BRITISH Land today sought to stop the growing tide of dissenters gathering behind rebel shareholder Laxey Partners' campaign for change. The company unveiled profits and net asset value at the top end of analysts' expectations and reiterated its tough stance on share buybacks.

The net asset value of its entire property portfolio divided by all the shares - the industry's favourite measure of growth - was up 3.7% to 803p. Post-exceptional profits were up 96% at £171.3m.

The good performance should help narrow the gap between the share price, currently 626p, and the underlying assets - which has been the focus of the rebel movement. Chairman and chief executive John Ritblat was all but silent today on the Laxey proposals for buybacks and management change. But he promised a detailed response to the challenge by 17 June.

Gross rents for the 12 months ended 31 March were up 8% at £513.8m. A final dividend of 8.6p makes a total of 12.4p, up 7.8%.