One of the first steps Land Securities took to manage the effects of Covid-19 was to suspend dividend payments in April in order to conserve cash in the face of significant uncertainty. Over the subsequent six months, they claim to have seen trading conditions, particularly in terms of rent collection and outlook, begin to improve and consequently they are pleased to be reinstating our dividend alongside these interim results. They are resuming quarterly dividends commencing with a 12.0p per share payment on 4 January 2021, representing an aggregated payment for the first two quarters of the year.
Other financial highlights include:
Revenue profit down 48.9% to £115m
Loss before tax for the period of £835m (2019: loss of £147m)
Adjusted diluted earnings per share down 49.0% to 15.5p
(2019: 23.2p) Combined Portfolio valued at £11.8bn, with a valuation deficit of £945m or 7.7%(3)
EPRA net tangible assets per share down 9.5% to 1,079p
Ungeared total property return of -5.9%
Total business return of -9.5%
Like-for-like net rental income, excluding provisions for bad and doubtful debts, down £31m or 10.3%
