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Land Securities Group PLC on Tuesday said a fall in portfolio value drove it into loss, but the commercial property developer said it is well placed to deliver long-term growth. The London-based company swung to a pretax loss of £622 million for the financial year ended March 31 from a profit of £875 million. This it attributed to a £848 million reduction in its portfolio value, due to a softening of valuation yields and less active investment. Revenue grew by 16% to £791 million from £679 million a year prior, with LandSec noting more normalised consumer demand post-Covid. The company will pay a total dividend of 38.6 pence for the recent financial year, up 4.3% from 37.0p for financial 2022. This was after it declared a final dividend of 12.0p, down from 13.0p a year before. Looking ahead, LandSec said it is in ‘great shape’ to invest in higher return opportunities and is well placed to deliver long-term growth. Chief Executive Officer Mark Allan said: ‘We expect the combination of a ’higher for longer’ interest rate environment and the continuing concentration of customer demand on the very best space to result in exciting opportunities and continued positive rental growth for Landsec. Those competitive advantages will be more important than ever.’ Shares in Land Securities were up 2.4% at 634.80 pence each in London on Tuesday morning. Copyright 2023 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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