Liverpool centres underpin Land Secs’ performance

LAND Securities hailed the performance of its major shopping centres in Liverpool as the company announced a 15% rise in pre-tax profits to £1.22bn in the year to March 31.

The London-based property giant told the city yesterday that its net asset value per share had increased by 18% to 885p as the value of its portfolio rebounded and its asset management strategy paid dividends, with voids across its estate falling by 1% to 4.3%.

Portfolio director Gerald Jennings said that its St John’s Shopping Centre and Clayton Square Shopping Centre  assets in Liverpool city centre had just recorded their busiest April on record with 500,000 more visitors than in 2010.

“This annual rise of 10% trumps the national drop of 0.8% in April,” he said.

“St Johns shopping centre has attracted 2.7m customers so far this year and increased the frequency of its visitors from 60 to 64 times per year proving that our retail offer is still a major draw on the high street.

“However, we’re still operating in a difficult economic environment so we have to remain resilient and now, more than ever, is the time to listen to what our customers need and that’s exactly what we’ve done.

Recent signings to the centre have come from value retailers such as Nerseyside retailer Home Bargains and German giant Aldi.

“The high street may be busier but every pound in the consumer purse has to work much harder so we have delivered the right deals to bring quality value brands into the scheme,” said Jennings.

 “Employing a robust asset management strategy and attracting the right retailers into the scheme is going to be our recipe for success in 2011.”