Overseas property firms looking to cast the slide rule over Britain’s quoted property sector
Leading UK publication, The Times, revealed in a news report that overseas property firms, comprising Abu Dhabi’s Aldar, were looking to cast the slide rule over Britain’s quoted property sector.
Hopes are reviving that as the credit squeeze continues to firm up its grip, the share prices of some of the big businesses with low-levels of long-term borrowings and well-let portfolios, will at last begin appearing fair value or even cheap.
Meanwhile, as commercial property firms get ready to face up to another month of debt markets remaining more or less closed to business, investors will be watching more keenly than ever on the health and strength of their balance sheets as well as development pipelines. Fears of further sudden and sharp falls in the share prices of many London-centric office developers are however, now looking a distinct possibility.
Research done by MWB Business Exchange, the serviced office firm, reveals that banks are growingly taking short-term leases on London offices rather than opting to commit to new long-term large lets. This has stoked fears that they were looking at job cuts. Those apprehensions were confirmed by latest research from commercial property agency Atis Real revealing that banks accounted for mere 8 per cent of new City office lettings recorded during the first quarter of 2008 compared with their long-term proportion of 40 per cent.