Land Securities profits up as property market recovers

Land Securities has announced a rise in full-year profits as the UK property market continues to recover.

Pre-tax profits for the year to the end of March were £1.23bn, up almost 15% on the £1.07bn the commercial property developer made a year earlier.

The company said returns on its property investments grew by 17% in the year, while rental values rose by 5%.

It said that while the market was still "in recovery mode", London presented "particularly strong growth prospects".

"We are developing schemes [in the city] to meet the anticipated under-supply of new office space, which may be even more acute than originally forecast," said chief executive Francis Salway.

Shares in the company rose by 5.8% as a result, making it the FTSE 100 index's biggest climber.

Other property company shares also gained ground, with British Land rising 5.6%.