(Reuters) - Property developer British Land said it had reduced the amount of space it was building without secured tenants to below 4 percent, adding that its London office tenants were taking longer to make decisions to take up space.
Britain's second-largest listed developer, which owns Sheffield's Meadowhall shopping centre and office developments at Paddington Central, said that it expected uncertainty in the property market to persist for "some considerable" time as Britain negotiates its exit form the European Union.
The company reported a 7.4 percent increase in full-year underlying profit to 390 million pounds. It said its EPRA net asset value (NAV) - a key metric for the industry that reflects the value of a company's buildings - slipped 0.4 percent to 915 pence per share.
The amount of space it was building without secured tenants was cut to below 4 percent, reducing its exposure to such higher risk projects in what it termed as "uncertain markets".
"London occupiers, particularly financial institutions, are making contingency plans but there is a wide range of possible outcomes here," British Land said on Wednesday.