Fall in property values blamed for unexpectedly large loss

Property behemoth British Land has announced a record 拢3.88bn loss as a result of plummeting property values.

The loss is more than double the previous year's 拢1.56bn loss and exceeds even the 拢2.96bn predicted by five analysts in a Bloomberg survey.

British Land's Euston scheme
British Land's Euston scheme

In March, British Land carried out one of the first of the recent spate of rights issues among major firms, tapping shareholders for 拢740m.

The British Land portfolio is almost equally divided between retail warehouses or malls and office buildings, with most of its office buildings located in the City of London.

Topics