Final Results Part 1
British Land Co PLC
31 May 2000
PART 1
Preliminary Announcement by The British Land Company PLC
of final results for the year ended 31st March 2000
HIGHLIGHTS
----------
PROFITS BEFORE TAX £156.4 million (1999 - £55.3 million) up 183%.
REVENUE PROFITS BEFORE TAX £153.1 million (1999 - £122.5 million) up 25%.
EARNINGS PER SHARE 24.8p (1999 - 10.1p) up 145%.
FINAL DIVIDEND up 6.1% at 7.5p per share (1999 - 7.07p). With the Interim of
3.4p already paid, a distribution for the year of 10.9p up 5.8% (1999 -
10.3p).
NET ASSETS PER SHARE up 10.2% to 694p per share from 630p per share.
NET ASSETS PER SHARE (fully diluted) up 9% to 681p from 625p per share.
PROFIT SOURCES
Net Rents: £347.5 million (1999 - £296.5 million). Gross
rents were £368.3 million (1999 - £311.9 million).
Joint Ventures: Profits £22.9 million (1999 - £21.8 million)
Interest £15.3 million (1999 - £19.3 million). The
decline in interest income arises from the
reduction in shareholder loans in the ventures
now funded by external borrowings.
Property Trading: £41 million (1999 - £13.7 million).
TAX CHARGE £27.6 million, a rate of 17.6% (1999 - £2.6 million, 4.7%). The
tax charge in 1999 was low because of the exceptional £68 million write-off
in respect of surplus derivatives following the Broadgate securitisation.
TOTAL RETURN 11.9% per share (1999 - 8.1%).
NET ASSETS rose £331.8 million (up 10.2%) to £3,593.5 million (including
surplus on trading properties). Property valuation details are on page 3.
BOARD
Mr. Peter Simon is retiring as a non-executive director at the Annual General
Meeting.
Mr. Derek Higgs, an Executive Director of Prudential plc and Chairman
designate of Partnerships UK, and Lord Burns, Permanent Secretary of H.M.
Treasury 1991-8 and a Director of Pearson plc and Legal & General Group PLC,
will join the Board as non-executive directors in July.
FINANCE
-------
WEIGHTED AVERAGE DEBT MATURITY 18.4 years (1999 - 23 years).
WEIGHTED AVERAGE INTEREST RATE 7.05% (1999 - 7.3%).
UNUSED BANK FACILITIES and cash of £1,360.3 million.
At the year-end the British Land debt book was 85% fixed, 4% capped and 11%
variable.
The joint ventures' borrowings were 90% fixed and 10% variable.
No derivative transactions of a speculative nature are undertaken and all
foreign exchange assets and liabilities are hedged fully into Sterling.
FINANCIAL RATIOS FOR THE BRITISH LAND COMPANY PLC
-------------------------------------------------
MORTGAGE RATIO (DEBT/PROPERTY & INVESTMENTS) 49% (1999 - 43%).
DEBT/EQUITY 105% (1999 - 83%).
FINANCIAL RATIOS FOR BRITISH LAND INCORPORATING ALSO ITS SHARE
--------------------------------------------------------------
OF JOINT VENTURES
-----------------
MORTGAGE RATIO (DEBT/PROPERTY AND INVESTMENTS) 52% (1999 - 46%).
DEBT/EQUITY 122% (1999 - 96%).
The debt in the joint ventures is largely non-recourse to British Land.
British Land's share of joint venture debt is £637 million. The amount
guaranteed by British Land is £33 million.
PROPERTY PORTFOLIO (INCLUDING SHARE OF JOINT VENTURES)
------------------------------------------------------
TOTAL PROPERTIES, including British Land's share of joint ventures, rise to
£8.2 billion.
TOTAL FUNDS under British Land property management, including partners' shares
of joint ventures, now up to £9.5 billion.
91% of the property portfolio was bought within the last ten years.
ANNUALISED NET RENTS £462.5 million (1999 - £398.8 million).
WEIGHTED AVERAGE LEASE LENGTH 19.9 years (1999 - 19.7 years).
CURRENT NET YIELD on the portfolio is 5.9% (1999 - 6.3%).
REVERSIONARY NET YIELD is 7.1% (1999 - 7.3%) on current rental values.
Reversionary income over £90 million.
PROPERTY PURCHASES £1,301 million (British Land portfolio)
Principal purchases: Meadowhall Shopping Centre near Sheffield; 24.5% of the
Swiss Centre, Leicester Square, London W1 (now 100% owned); Hamilton House,
Broadgate, London EC2.
PROPERTY SALES in year £234 million (British Land portfolio).
Principal sales: The Corn Exchange, Mark Lane, London EC3; 55 Old Broad
Street, London EC2; First Avenue House, High Holborn, London WC1; Swan Centre,
Rathmines, Dublin and Fairmile Place, Cobham, Surrey.
DEVELOPMENT EXPENDITURE £93 million (British Land portfolio).
(Separate reports on each of the joint ventures see Note 7).
PROPERTY VALUATION (BRITISH LAND PORTFOLIO INCLUDING SHARE OF JOINT VENTURES)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Company will be undertaking a revaluation at the Interim stage.
After adjustment for purchases, properties awaiting development, sales and
other expenditures, the growth was 3.9% (1999 + 3.8%).
2000 1999
---- ----
City offices +1.4% +1.9%
West End offices +10.0% +9.9%
Other offices +1.1% +5.2%
All offices +2.4% +3.0%
Shops +2.2% +2.4%
Retail warehousing +8.4% +1.6%
Supermarkets +2.3% +6.0%
Shopping centres +8.3% +7.3%
All retail +5.9% +4.7%
Industrial and distribution +6.3% +3.7%
Leisure and other +2.2% +5.0%
Use (percentage by value) 2000 1999*
------------------------- ---- ----
Offices:
City 35.5% 43.9%
West End 5.4% 6.7%
Other- 2.5% 3.7%
---- ----
All offices 43.4% 54.3%
Retail:
Shops 5.7% 6.4%
Retail warehouses 6.4% 7.0%
Supermarkets 12.2% 14.7%
Shopping centres 21.6% 6.6%
---- ----
All retail 45.9% 34.7%
Industrial & Distribution: 1.2% 1.4%
Leisure and other: 4.2% 4.8%
Development: 5.3% 4.8%
---- ----
Total: 100% 100%
London:
City 38.7% 47.4%
West End 6.5% 7.0%
Greater London 4.5% 5.7%
South East England: 8.7% 10.2%
Wales & South West England: 5.0% 6.0%
Midlands & East Anglia: 7.8% 9.1%
North of England: 23.0% 8.1%
Scotland & Northern Ireland: 3.9% 4.7%
Republic of Ireland: 1.9% 1.8%
---- ----
Total: 100% 100%
* In 1999, developments were classified according to their end use.
FINANCINGS
----------
£1.54 billion securitisation supported by cashflows from the Broadgate Estate.
£300 million unsecured syndicated revolving bank facility.
In the joint ventures:
BL Fraser Limited (joint venture with House of Fraser PLC) £125 million
non-recourse loan;
Tesco BL Holdings Limited (joint venture with Tesco plc) £210 million
non-recourse loan.
DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME
---------------------
£1.2 billion of which £202 million already spent.
Principal items under construction:
Regent's Place, London NW1
18,200 sq m (196,000 sq ft) new head office for Abbey National
12,100 sq m (130,000 sq ft) new office building;
201 Bishopsgate, Broadgate, London EC2
(joint venture with Railtrack plc)
63,000 sq m (680,000 sq ft) office building
raft over railway completed;
Plantation Place, London EC3
61,000 sq m (656,000 sq ft) office building, demolition complete,
piling in progress;
Blythe Valley Park, Solihull (joint venture with Prologis Kingspark)
69 hectare Business Park of 111,500 sq m (1.2 million sq ft) of office
and other accommodation;
Cherrywood, Dublin (joint venture with Dunloe Ewart Plc)
This is a masterplanned mixed use development on a site of 170 hectares
situated 8 miles south of Dublin at Loughlinstown.
EXTRACTS FROM THE STATEMENT BY THE CHAIRMAN, MR. JOHN RITBLAT
-------------------------------------------------------------
'By building and investing for the future, British Land has taken out a lot
of the risk in property. Its high quality portfolio of modern property, well
tenanted on long leases, its joint ventures, its property trading and big
development programme (also using joint ventures) show the way forward, using
a range of debt instruments to multiply the lower capital returns of a low
inflation era. There is reversionary income of £90 million to come, most of
it in the next four years, and another £86 million of income from developments
to add to existing annualised income of £462.5 million, making almost £640
million per annum in all. These are big numbers. We will add income too by
working the individual assets. There is still scope for entrepreneurial
initiatives in your Company which has grown large in assets but remains small
in management team numbers.
The past year gave us the opportunity to add significantly to our retail
assets, which now account for 46% of the portfolio. We bought the Meadowhall
Shopping Centre near Sheffield, comprising 124,500 sq m and one of only six
major centres in the United Kingdom. It enjoys the twin benefits of
unparalleled excellence in communication with a proven retail mix. Tenant
quality is high and 71% of the leases have 25 years unexpired, adding to our
covenant strength. We are well pleased with its performance in the period of
our ownership, the uplift being 9.3% to £1.28 billion.'
CONTACTS
--------
John Ritblat, Chairman The British Land Company PLC
John Weston Smith, Finance Director 020 7486 4466
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