Land Securities plunges into the red

Land Securities has registered an £888.8m pre-tax loss as part of its preliminary results for the year to 31 March 2008, amid a "sharply falling" property market.

The figure represented a huge drop on its 2007 pre-tax profit of £1.9bn. It follows a £2.8bn write-down in the value of its property.

But the firm was nonetheless upbeat about its performance.

"Whilst Land Securities has not been immune to the general market trends in property values, have performed well in each of our three divisions [London, Retail and Trillium]," it said in a statement.

"Our moderate gearing levels, well-timed development programme and active approach to asset maangement position the company well for the current market," it added.

Chief executive Francis Salway said: “How occupiers respond to current economic conditions will prove key over the next 12 months. We are alive to the challenges involved and we will concentrate on competing hard in this environment while preparing for the next set of opportunities.

"In summary we are well placed in the short term and for the medium to longer term, we have a plan for sustained value creation through demerger on which we are steadily progressing our plans.”