Shares in British Land were down on the FTSE 100 in morning trading after the property developer reported a slight rise in pre-tax profit in the full year ended 31 March.

The group said that the value of its net assets had risen from £4.2 billion to £4.9 billion, while underlying pre-tax profit increased 2.8 per cent to £256 million.

British Land said that it would be holding its dividend at 26.0 pence per share.

UK Retail occupancy at the company was reported as being "stable" at 98.5 per cent, while Office occupancy rose from 92.6 per cent to 97.8 per cent.

During the period British Land said it had invested £2.1 billion in acquisitions and its development programme.

Chris Grigg, Chief Executive of British Land, said, "British Land has had a very active year. We have again outperformed the market and there is real momentum in the business. We have made a significant commitment to London office development and also continued to build on our high quality retail portfolio.

"Our strong letting performance across our portfolio shows clearly that there is still demand from occupiers for the well-located prime retail and London office assets we provide and we expect this to continue. With our strong asset base, management expertise and financial strength we are well placed to continue our strong performance."

By 09:55 shares in British Land were down 3.38 per cent on the FTSE 100 to 572.50 pence per share.