Land Securities: Land's end for Salway The most important indicator of performance, from a shareholder's point of view, is a company's total return. By that measure, Francis Salway has been a failure. In the eight years he has been chief executive of Land Securities, Europe's second largest property trust by assets has lost investors a total of 9 per cent. But now he has resigned, it perhaps is wrong to judge his tenure on this metric alone. Indeed, the decline of the broader listed European property market over the same time period has been more than twice as much as that of Land Securities. At the helm during both the real estate boom and bust, Mr Salway leaves Land Securities in relatively good shape. Net debt is only about 30 per cent of assets, down from almost half during the height of the financial downturn. And although the market value of Land's assets has fallen by almost half since the 2007 peak, the income generated from those assets has fallen by just over one-quarter. As the trust's tenants are locked in for an average of almost nine years each, its income should remain steady. The reason is Mr Salway's focus on prime commercial property, particularly in London which is home to 60 per cent of the trust's portfolio. Incoming chief executive Robert Noel is lucky to take the reins at this time. Land's debt profile is secure - its weighted average debt maturity is about 11 years - and the market value of its assets is conservative. The trust trades at about 75 per cent of its book value - a discount of 15 per cent to British Land, and 21 per cent to the broader European market. Land Securities is exposed to uncertain retail property, but vacancy rates at its key shopping centres are falling. So although Mr Salway presided over a period of falling returns, his level head means investors can be optimistic about the trust's future.