Land Securities reported a loss of £95 million for the six months ended 30 September, compared with a profit of £707.9 million for the same period last year, after the value of its assets were marked down 1.8%.
A 1.8% decline in commercial property left the developer with a valuation deficit of £259.6 million, compared with a valuation surplus in the prior period of £519.3 million.
The decline in asset values is behind both the loss per share of 12.1p, compared with earnings per share of 89.7p in the prior period, and the reductions in basic and adjusted diluted net assets per share from 1,482p and 1,434p respectively at 31 March 2016 to 1,449p and 1,408p respectively at 30 September 2016.
In contrast, revenue profit and adjusted diluted earnings per share were up over the comparative period. Revenue profit was up from £184.2m to £192.5 million and adjusted diluted earnings per share were up 1.1p at 24.3p.
“We have seen early indications of revised policy priorities that may affect our market, including public spending, housing and infrastructure,” said chief executive Robert Noel. “Uncertainty hangs over many issues and businesses find themselves in uncharted territory.
“We will watch closely how this uncertainty affects development decisions and construction starts.”
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