British Land sees fall in retail values British Land's net asset value rose only marginally over the past quarter, reflecting a fall in the value of its retail properties. British Land reported net asset value of 595p per share, against 593p in the three months to December 31, as a slight fall in retail values was offset by gains on office developments. However, the net asset value at the end of March was 4.9 per cent higher than the year earlier figure of 567p, reflecting a 0.4 per cent increase in its UK retail portfolio over the full year. The retail property market has been hit so far this year with a wave of collapses, including Peacocks, Game Group and most recently Clinton Cards. Clintons in particular is a big shopping centre tenant, and British Land said that following the card retailer's administration in May, its occupiers in administration rose to 1 per cent of its total rent, from 0.6 per cent at its year end in March. Lucinda Bell, finance director, said that of the amount of space let to occupiers in administration, about half was already under offer to be relet. Clintons said last week that it planned to close 350 stores, including the whole of the Birthdays chain. Ms Bell said British Land had 21 stores let to Clintons "and those are disproportionately in what for them are the most profitable places." British Land said there was evidence of the "polarisation we have seen in retail performance in recent years becoming even more marked. Although rental values across the market fell by 0.4 per cent in the year, prime rental values continued to grow. We also started to see a divergence in performance of primary and secondary properties in the investment markets, which hitherto have been more uniform. Ms Bell said that across its retail portfolio, British Land had seen the seventh consecutive quarter of rental growth. Chris Grigg, chief executive, said: "Retailers are prepared to pay more rent for the best places, even simultaneously with announcing shop closures on the high street." He said British Land's portfolio was mainly in what it would describe as "prime retail," a combination of superstores, shopping centres and retail parks, with virtually nothing on the high street. The comments came as underlying profit before tax rose 5.1 per cent to £269m in the year to March, driven by an increase in rental income, reflecting the acquisitions of properties it had made over the last 18 months to two years. A quarterly dividend of 6.6p makes a total for the year of 26.4p. The shares rose 1.3p to 490p in early trading.