LONDON -- The shares of British Land (LSE: BLND.L) fell 5 pence to 511 pence in early trade this morning to offer investors a potential dividend income of 5.1%.
The FTSE 100 (UKX) member today declared a 13.2 pence per share first-half dividend to put itself on course for a 26.4 pence per share payout for the current year.
British Land's dividend news was announced alongside the firm's six-month results, which showed underlying pre-tax profits up 4% to 137 million pounds and net assets inching up a fraction to 5.4 billion pounds, or 596 pence per share.
Chris Grigg, British Land's chief executive, said:
Today we're reporting a good set of numbers in what continues to be a tough market. Our income, profits and net asset value are up on the same period last year and we have continued to outperform the UK property market on all key metrics-rental growth, capital returns and total returns."
"Our results underline the strength and resilience of British Land's business. The decisions we have taken in recent years are ensuring we are not only delivering good results today but are also building growth into our portfolio for the future.
British Land confirmed this morning that the firm offered investors exposure to a good mix of retail and London property.
Retail assets currently represent about 60% of the firm's property portfolio, with 28 million square feet of space split across 82 retail parks, 92 superstores, 13 shopping centers, and 9 department stores. The rest of the group's portfolio is mostly represented by some 7 million of square feet of offices located in central London.
British Land's dividend appears to sit well compared to those of fellow property groups Land Securities and Hammerson, both of which yield less than 4%. However, Capital Shopping Centres does offer close to 5%, according to Bloomberg data.
Right now, British Land is just one of a number of FTSE large caps that currently offers a dividend income well ahead of what you can expect to receive from a standard savings account.
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