British Land announces that it has exchanged contracts for the sale of 334-348 Oxford Street, London to a private investor for €467.5m (£400m). The asset is a seven storey building located near Bond Street Underground Station in London’s core West End shopping district. The building is let in its entirety to Debenhams until 2039.
In addition, British Land has exchanged on €115.7m (£99m) of further Retail disposals since 31 March 2016, including €92.4 (£79m) of superstores, 3.1% ahead of March valuations. These transactions bring total Retail disposals since the year end to €583.2 (£499m).
Since the EU Referendum, British Land has exchanged 11 long term Retail leases totalling 4,645m² (50,000ft²) and €2.5m (£2.1m) of rent on terms agreed prior to the Referendum. The leases are spread across our Regional and Local portfolios to a range of occupiers including Yo! Sushi, Nando’s, River Island, Pret A Manger, Byron and Waterstones. In aggregate these lettings are 4.7% ahead of March 2016 ERVs. A further 19,509m² (210,000ft²) of Retail lettings are under offer.
Chris Grigg, Chief Executive, said, “The disposal of Debenhams on Oxford Street reflects our strategic focus on multi-let assets within the Retail portfolio. British Land has entered this period of post-referendum uncertainty in a robust position. We have a strong, resilient business with a clear strategy. We have a modern portfolio which is well suited to current and future customer needs. The portfolio is 99% occupied with a wide range of quality occupiers on long leases. Our finances are strong with an LTV of 29.7%, proforma for exchanged disposals, and the group has no refinancing requirement for over four years. Our speculative development commitments are low at 4% of the portfolio and we have considerable flexibility in our development pipeline.”
British Land will announce its Q1 trading update on the 18 July 2016.
