Land Securities Group plc (LAND) Q4 2024 Earnings Call

Investor webinar replay

Replay transcript excerpt

Well, ladies and gentlemen, good morning and welcome to the presentation of Landsec's 2024 full-year results. So, over the last three years, we have been focused on two clear strategic priorities. Firstly, increasing our investment in best-in-class assets where, through our competitive advantages, we can drive long-term growth. And secondly, preserving our balance sheet strength. So, including the sale of the hotel portfolio that we announced last week, we have now sold around 40 assets since late 2020, totalling some £3.1 billion. And the vast majority of these were long-term single-let assets where our ability to add further value was limited. And we've reinvested at accretive returns in a targeted number of our key places, such as Victoria, Piccadilly, Bluewater or Cardiff. And as a result of that, around 80% of our current portfolio is now concentrated in our 12 largest places. And as we continue to invest in shaping and curating these unique multi-let locations, we expect them to drive superior income returns and growth over time. At the same time, our proactive disposals mean that our capital base has remained strong and our 32% LTV is lower than it was two years ago before the rise in interest rates and the correction in real estate values that followed. And this now provides us with significant financial capacity to capitalise on the future growth potential in our pipeline and to acquire high quality assets that will supplement our existing best in class portfolio at an attractive point in the cycle. And this strategic focus remains critical as it has never been more important to own the right real estate. The normalization in cost of capital over the last two years means that value drivers across all of the sector have fundamentally changed. Over much of the...