British Land reports good first quarter with 90% let at 'Cheesegrater' Leadenhall Building

Property development firm British Land reported it is experiencing increasing demand in several of its divisions. British Land also announced it is working on refurbishments at its 72,000 square foot office space in 338 Euston Road, which is sub-let to Facebook.

British Land is the owner of the iconic Leadenhall Building, better known as the Cheesegrater. The skyscraper is one of the highest in London and the company announced it has now let 90% of the building.

Chief executive Chris Grigg said that the company was happy with the good start to the year. He said that British Land is seeing progress in occupational as well as investment markets, especially in the areas it wants to focus on.

He said: "In retail, our operational metrics remain strong and we continue to recycle capital by selling selected mature assets and investing into our existing portfolio."

"In offices, we're pleased with the deals we've done at The Leadenhall Building and in the supply constrained City market we're positive about our prospects on the remaining space."

The company, which owns large iconic buildings across London and the UK such as the 'groundscraper' at 5 Broadgate, and One Sheldon Square in Paddington, reported that its square footage of retail lettings and renewals is 9.4% of March 2015.

Alison Watson, analyst at Investec, gave the development and investment company a 'buy' rating. She argues: "A solid trading update with broadly positive operational metrics. Whilst we see further downside risk to yields given the strength of investment demand, we expect NAV growth to slow from here. Nevertheless, shares look good value trading at par."

Investec did mention high risks and a dividend that was lower than its forecast but said that the shares looked like a good investment for the long term.