Meadowhall star performer in the resurgence of British Land

Property values rose 8.2 per cent in the three months to December 31 and the group saw a surprise 18 per cent rise in net asset value.

The group said that Meadowhall played a key part in the group's resurgence with footfall up five per cent at Meadowhall and its other retail parks. This compares to a three per cent increase in the UK overall.

Meadowhall said footfall rose 11 per cent in both October and November and by five per cent in December, beating the group's average.

British Land said it had exchanged on 48,000 sq feet of new lettings at Meadowhall, bringing in retailers such as Aldo, Cult, Firetrap, Lipsy and Office for the first time.

Over the last six months of 2009, 21 new stores opened at Meadowhall including brands such as Kurt Geiger, Links of London, Hollister, Radley, Fat Face and Hotel Chocolat, which all helped improve Christmas traffic.

A new Superdry store – one of David Beckham's favourite clothing companies – will open this month and an Office is scheduled to open in March.

Some of the centre's more established retailers, including Next, House of Fraser, Debenhams and The Entertainer said their Meadowhall stores have out performed their other stores across the country.

Meadowhall centre director Darren Pearce, said: "This has been one of the best Christmases we have experienced for a number of years. We saw up to 115,000 visitors a day during the sales period.

"Not only are footfall figures significantly up, but retailers have reported that consumers are spending considerably more as well."

British Land said that like-for-like rental income grew by 1.4 per cent in the quarter.

The upturn in property values helped the company swing to a pre-tax profit of 611m, compared with a loss of 1.6bn in the same quarter the previous year when hefty property writedowns took their toll.

Underlining profits were down eight per cent to 58m, reflecting a 15 per cent reduction in net rental income following disposals made in the past 15 months.

Overall, values are up 6.1 per cent in the first nine months of the financial year, turning around the decline of 2.4 per cent in the first half.

British Land's chief executive Chris Grigg said: "Our third quarter performance saw a continued recovery with strong valuation growth right across the portfolio.

"The significant increase in our property valuation reflects the

quality of the portfolio and focus on asset management."

In another sign of returning confidence the company has upped its spending in recent months, making 240m of investments in retail and office developments in the year so far.

British Land, which tapped shareholders for 740m last year to shore up its balance sheet, said its 8bn portfolio was "resilient and positioned to deliver growth". British Land has bought a 50 per cent stake in Clifton Moor Retail Park in York in its fifth joint venture with Tesco.

Analysts at Killik & Co said the results were broadly in line with market expectations.

"The improvement in the market environment highlighted at the time of the interims has continued, with strong valuation growth across the portfolio," they said.

Despite the increase in net asset values, Killik & Co "remain fairly cautious over the outlook for the UK commercial property market".

A hungry shopper's dream...

Meadowhall Shopping Centre attracts over 25 million visitors a year and houses over 280 stores, many of them flagship.

It has 50 different places to eat, an 11-screen cinema, 12,000 free car parking spaces and a transport interchange.

International shops and designers include Hobbs, Karen Millen, Hollister, French Connection, Hugo Boss, All Saints, Austin Reed, Jaeger, Kurt Geiger, Ted Baker.

Its major stores include Marks and Spencer, Debenhams, House of Fraser, Boots, Next, Top Shop, Zara, Gap, Warehouse, Miss Selfridge, New Look, Primark and River Island,

The entertainment centre includes The Oasis Food Court, with a large range of restaurants and food outlets including Zizzi, Nandos, Pizza Express, Frankie & Bennys and the newly-opened Handmade Burger Company.

Meadowhall was the first British shopping centre to develop an onsite resource and recovery centre, which sorts, separates and sends material for recycling.

In 2006 it invested in a rainwater harvesting system which supplies non-drinking water to the centre.

The site is open seven days a week and is situated off Junction 34 of the M1.