GREAT PORTLAND ESTATES PLC (Reuters) - Great Portland Estates Plc (>> Great Portland Estates PLC), which owns offices and shops in central London, posted a 31 percent jump in first-half EPRA net asset value, helped by soaring demand for high-quality property in the commercial hub.
The London landlord said EPRA net assets per share - a key measure for developers as it reflects the value of their buildings - rose to 636 pence over the six months ended Sept. 30, from 487 pence a year earlier. EPRA NAVs are calculated as per European Public Real Estate Association (EPRA) guidelines.
"The office community in London is growing, not shrinking. In fact we think it's gonna grow faster than pretty much any European city in the next five or so years," Chief Executive Toby Courtauld told Reuters.
Great Portland's buoyant view matches that of property developer Land Securities Group Plc (>> Land Securities Group plc), which said earlier this week that it expected demand for office spaces in London to outstrip supply until at least 2017.
Commercial properties are being quickly snapped up as historically low interest rates and UK's seemingly surefooted recovery is encouraging businesses to switch addresses.
Analysts at Liberum said Great Portland's interims were a modest beat on NAV and the company was constructive on the outlook given improving demand and a lack of new supply. Liberum rates the stock at "buy" with a target price of 740 pence.
Value of Great Portland's portfolio of assets rose by 8.9 percent on a like-for-like basis in the first half to 2.98 billion pounds ($4.7 billion).
Demand for commercial properties shows no signs of waning as total returns from commercial assets rose to 4.4 percent in the quarter ended Sept. 30, data from real estate benchmark provider Investment Property Databank Ltd showed. (http://bit.ly/1v6XKIQ)
Great Portland also raised its interim dividend to 3.5 pence from 3.4 pence last year.
Shares in the company rose as much as 1.7 percent to 699 pence in morning trade on the London Stock Exchange. The stock had risen about 15 percent this year, until Wednesday's close.
(Editing by Gopakumar Warrier)
By Aastha Agnihotri and Esha Vaish
