Company news round-up: Derwent London plc 'a tale of two halves'

Derwent, who are the biggest investors of London property, found their portfolio valuation ended the year down just 3.3 pct, compared to mid-way through the year, where it was down 12.3 pct, before it rose 9.8 pct during second half.

Their net property income from rents increased 20 pct from 2008.

“We should see positive rental growth this year,” Chief Executive Officer John Burns said today as tenants compete for their dwindling amount of mid-priced office space.

The company ended the year with an annual IFRS loss of £34.9m compared with an annual loss of £606.5m in 2008.

The share price, which had seen a slump in 2007 and 2008, doubled this year in expectation of narrowed losses shown in today's full year results.

A final dividend was also paid making this year's total 27p.

Nomura forecasts NAV of 1,295p in 2010.