Property companies looking to invest for the next upturn
It seems as though property companies in the UK such as Land Securities are now readying themselves for an increase in demand for property in the medium term and looking to invest into new projects in the short term. Indeed yesterday we saw Land Securities announce a £655 million investment in the West End of London as the company continues to see signs of growth in the UK property sector.
It is no secret that many property companies in the UK have been struggling financially for many months and indeed a number are still on the verge of breaking banking covenants. Cash flow is another issue which is grabbing the attention of many finance directors up and down the UK and while we may have seen a slowdown in "fire sale" asset disposals there are still concerns about some of the smaller groups in the short to medium term.
An upturn in the sector in the medium term may come too late to help those struggling at the moment with UK banks unable or unwilling to forward further finance in the short term. When you also consider that unemployment in the UK has yet to peak, businesses continue to go bust and there will be a significant lag between an economic recovery and demand for property, there may be hope for the future but for some companies there are serious short-term concerns.
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