Final Results

British Land Co PLC

20 May 2026

 

The British Land Company PLC

20 May 2026

Record leasing driving performance and earnings outlook

Simon Carter, Chief Executive said:

"A record year of leasing has driven strong ERV growth, like-for-like net rental growth and an attractive earnings outlook. We are benefiting from our leading positions in campuses and retail parks, where demand is growing and supply remains constrained. Our offer is clearly resonating with customers: we have around a 5% share of the London office market, but accounted for 15% of reported leasing activity last year, rising to 33% in the fourth quarter.

While the geopolitical and interest rate backdrop has become more uncertain, the occupational fundamentals underpinning our portfolio are as strong as I have seen them. Central London office net take-up is at its highest level in 20 years and our retail parks are 99% occupied.

In these tightening markets, we are well positioned to capitalise on our scale, quality and value-add mindset to deliver sustainable EPS growth of 3-6% per annum and total returns of 8-10% across the cycle."

Financial

•    Underlying Profit £294m, up 5% (FY25: £279m)

•    Underlying earnings per share (EPS) 28.9p, up 1% (FY25: 28.5p)

•    Dividend per share 23.12p, up 1% (FY25: 22.80p)

•    EPRA cost ratio 18.9% (FY25: 17.5%)

•    Total property return +7.4% and total accounting return +8.1%

operational metrics

•    Portfolio occupancy 96.9%¹: Campuses 94.7%¹, Retail & London Urban Logistics 99.0%¹

•    Leased 3.8m sq ft, 7.2% ahead of ERV with 1.1m sq ft under offer, 12.9% ahead of ERV

•    Campus leasing: 1.7m sq ft (a record £143m secured²), 6.3% ahead of ERV, which accelerated in Q4 with 0.8m sq ft of deals, c.50% of the total

•    295k sq ft under offer in Campuses, 17.0% ahead of ERV, with a further 228k sq ft under offer in the six weeks post year end with viewing levels elevated

•    Retail & London Urban Logistics leasing: 2.1m sq ft, 8.4% ahead of ERV and 0.8m sq ft under offer, 10.3% ahead of ERV

•    Retail park leasing ahead of previous passing rent, which accelerated in H2 with deals 6.3% ahead

•    Like-for-like net rental growth +6%: Campuses +12%³, Retail & London Urban Logistics +2%

1 Occupancy excludes developments completed in the previous 12 months

2 Headline rents (shown at 100%)

3 Excluding Storey

Portfolio VALUATION

•    Values up 2.3%: Campuses +2.0%, Retail & London Urban Logistics +2.7%

•    ERV growth 4.9%: Campuses 6.5%, Retail & London Urban Logistics 3.6%

•    Net equivalent yield -4 bps to 6.0%: Campuses -4 bps to 5.6%, Retail & London Urban Logistics -4 bps to 6.6%

Balance sheet

•    EPRA Net Tangible Assets per share 590p, up 4%

•    LTV 39.2% (FY25: 38.1%)

•    Group Net Debt to EBITDA 7.7x (FY25: 8.0x)

•    £3.1bn of financing activity, including £2.0bn new finance raised

•    £1.6bn undrawn facilities and cash, with no requirement to refinance until early 2029

•    Fitch Senior Unsecured credit rating at 'A' with stable outlook (affirmed February 2026)

CAPITAL ACTIVITY

•    £106m of assets disposed at an average of 4% above book value, and at 2.9% NIY

•    Exchanged or under offer on £176m of asset disposals post year end

•    £94m of retail acquired, principally three retail parks, at 7.2% Topped Up NIY

•    Life Science REIT acquisition effective 20 April 2026, funded through issuing 24.5m new shares and £49m cash

•    Progressing 1.6m sq ft committed development pipeline on a de-risked, capital light basis

Sustainability

•    GRESB rating of 5* for both standing investments and developments, achieving our best scores across both measures

•    75% of the portfolio rated EPC A or B, up from 68% at FY25

Outlook

•    Expect FY27 EPS of at least 30.5p, underpinned by like-for-like net rental growth at the top end of our 3-5% range

•    Expect 3-6% per annum EPS growth in subsequent years

•  Reiterating guidance of 3-5% per annum ERV growth across the portfolio

Summary performance

Year ended	31 March 2026	31 March 2025	% Change
INCOME STATEMENT
Underlying Profit1	£294m	£279m	5%
Underlying earnings per share1	28.9p	28.5p	1%
IFRS profit after tax	£454m	£338m
IFRS basic earnings per share	45.4p	35.1p
Dividend per share	23.12p	22.80p	1%
Total accounting return1	8.1%	5.0%
As at	31 March 2026	31 March 2025
BALANCE SHEET
Portfolio at valuation (proportionally consolidated)	£10,062m	£9,486m	2.3% 2
EPRA Net Tangible Assets per share1	590p	567p	4%
IFRS net assets	£5,932m	£5,710m
Net Debt to EBITDA (Group)3, 4	7.7x	8.0x
Loan to value (proportionally consolidated)4, 5	39.2%	38.1%
Fitch Senior Unsecured credit rating	A	A
Year ended	31 March 2026	31 March 2025
OPERATIONAL STATISTICS
Lettings and renewals over 1 year	3.4m sq ft	2.8m sq ft
Total lettings and renewals	3.8m sq ft	3.3m sq ft
Committed and recently completed developments	2.9m sq ft	3.3m sq ft
SUSTAINABILITY PERFORMANCE
MSCI ESG	AAA rating	AAA rating
GRESB (standing investments / developments)	5* / 5*	5* / 5*

1. See Note 2 to the condensed financial statements for definition and calculation.

2. Valuation movement during the year (after taking account of capex) of properties held at the balance sheet date including developments (classified by end use), purchases and sales.

3. Net Debt to EBITDA on a Group basis excludes joint venture borrowings and includes distributions and other receivables from joint ventures.

4. See Note 8 to the condensed financial statements for definition, calculation and reference to IFRS metrics.

5. EPRA Loan to value is disclosed in Table E of the condensed financial statements.

Dividends

Our dividend is semi-annual, and in line with our dividend policy, is calculated at 80% of Underlying EPS based on the most recently completed six-month period. Applying this policy, the Board are proposing a final dividend for the year ended 31 March 2026 of 10.80p per share, bringing the total dividend to 23.12p per share for the year. Payment will be made on Friday 24 July 2026 to shareholders on the register at close of business on Friday 19 June 2026. 9.34p will be payable as a Property Income Distribution and 1.46p will be payable as a non-Property Income Distribution. A Dividend Reinvestment Plan (DRIP) is provided by Equiniti Financial Services Limited, which enables the Company's shareholders to elect to have their cash dividend payments used to purchase the Company's shares. More information can be found at www.shareview.co.uk/info/drip.

BOARD changes

The following changes to our Board will take effect from the conclusion of our 2026 AGM. Lynn Gladden will step down as a Non-Executive Director. Lynn's expertise within the science & technology sector has been invaluable to the Board in recent years as the Company developed our presence in this important sector. Loraine Woodhouse will step down as Chair of the Audit Committee but remain a member, with Amanda James appointed as her successor. Loraine has made a significant contribution during her time as Chair of the Audit Committee.

Full unedited text

In accordance with DTR 6.3.5 (1A), the full unedited final results for the year ended 31 March 2026 will shortly be available to download from the National Storage Mechanism. A copy is also available on the Company's website: https://www.britishland.com/news/full-year-results-2026 and here: http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/9898E_1-2026-5-19.pdf

Results Presentation and Investor WEBCAST

A presentation of the results will take place at 9am on Wednesday 20 May 2026 at Peel Hunt, 100 Liverpool Street, Broadgate, London, EC2M 2AT and will be broadcast live via webcast which can be accessed via the following link:

Click for access:                  Webcast link  

A replay and accompanying slides will be made available at Britishland.com

For Information Contact

Investors

Jonty McNuff, British Land                                07931 684 272

Media

Charlotte Whitley, British Land                         07887 802 535

 

END