British Land reports a strong Q1 despite macroeconomic uncertainty

British Land Company (LON: BLND) is up 3.0% on Tuesday after reporting a strong first quarter in the face of macroeconomic uncertainty.

Leasing activity remained strong in the first quarter

The property developer said leasing activity stood at 552,000 square feet that topped estimated rental values by 11%.

British Land has another 1.2 million sq. ft under offer also ahead of estimated rental values by 15.5%. Its CEO Simon Carter said today in the trading update:

We continue to see strong operational momentum, despite macroeconomic uncertainty, with good leasing activity reflecting our focus on execution and exceptional quality of our portfolio.

Retail Park format, as per the London-based company, remains strong with sales up 6.0% and occupancy at 99%. The U.K. stock is currently down about 35% versus its year-to-date high.

What else was noteworthy in its Q1 trading update?

On Tuesday, British Land also confirmed that viewings in its campuses division were seeing an uptick in recent months

Occupancy in that segment stood at 96% in the first quarter with 164,000 sq. ft of leasing complete. The Chief Executive also wrote today:

Campuses are benefitting from trend towards best-in-class space. We also made strategic progress in life sciences and innovation, with one of the largest lab lettings in the market.

British Land ended its recent quarter with £1.7 billion in cash and undrawn lines-of-credit, and no requirement to refinance over the next 30 months at least. Wall Street currently has a consensus “overweight” rating on the real estate investment trust (REIT).