14 November 2025
If you are covering Landsec’s latest financial results, please find below a comment from Oli Creasey, head of property research at Quilter Cheviot:
“Landsec's half year report paints a complicated picture. On one hand, the company has been able to grow it earnings per share by 3% in the first half of the financial year, and has upgraded full year guidance off the back of it, albeit that guidance is presented prior to disposal impacts which will pare back that growth. However, the company has also reported a 1.25% reduction in net asset value, despite commercial property values in the UK rising generally across the period.
“The NAV is impacted by some one-off issues, but the results still feel underwhelming when compared to the 1.7% NAV increase recorded in the prior financial year. The company has made some disposals below book value which will have an impact, although the like-for-like valuation drop in West End offices comes as a surprise given it was one of the strongest sectors over the past six months according to index providers. Similarly, losses on the development pipeline (which gained ground over the prior year) could be considered a backward step at a time when the market is supposed to be in recovery.
“The NAV fall isn't hugely material, and when we consider that Landsec's shares closed yesterday at an around 25% discount to today's stated NAV, perhaps the adjustment was already in the price. Shares still look inexpensive on this metric (although in-line with the sector's discount generally), and if the impacts were indeed one-off and the company can return to NAV growth in the second half of the financial year, then this will quickly be forgotten. However, consecutive periods with a falling NAV are likely to be seen as cause for concern.”
