In QuotedData’s morning briefing 15 November 2022:
- The Financial Times has a story that the government has made another U-turn on its energy policy and will revert to the idea of a windfall tax on renewable generators, this despite it having passed the legislation necessary to impose a price cap. More detail should be forthcoming on Thursday, but it would be better for everyone if the government did not leak snippets of its budgets ahead of time we think.
- Land Securities (LAND) has seen EPRA earnings per share increase 9.5% to 26.6p in the six months to 30 September 2022, supported by strong leasing and an 8.3% like-for-like rental income growth. However, EPRA net tangible assets (NTA) was down 5.0% to 1,010p, driven by a 2.9% fall in its portfolio value reflecting softening of London property yields due to rising interest rates. Group LTV was down to 31.1% (March 2022: 34.4%) following £1bn of mature London office disposals. Weighted average debt maturity was 9.8 years (March 2022: 9.1 years), with 84% of debt hedged and an overall average cost of 2.7%. The group’s closest refinance event isn’t until 2026. Total dividend for the period was up 13.5% to 17.6p per share, supported by the increase in earnings.