British Land, Dart and Royal Mail

“The FTSE100 edged higher in early trading following a positive showing from equity markets in Asia,” says AJ Bell Investment Director Russ Mould.

“Property developer British Land was an early blue-chip riser following a strong first half performance. The group’s strategic focus on creating outstanding environments is driving demand for space in a market that continues to polarise and leasing activity remained strong at good pricing, despite external uncertainty. British Land has continued to achieve valuable leasing success and strong pricing which enable it to increase the dividend by 3%. British Land’s shares were up by more than 1.9%.

“Leisure travel and distribution and logistics group Dart led the AIM board after a 30% jump in first half pre-tax profits. Dart’s leisure travel business had a strong summer season in terms of passenger volume growth for both Jet2holidays andJet2.com, although it was a challenging season in terms of pricing. Dart’s shares were up by over 7.9%.

“Royal Mail’s shares rose despite a 30% fall in first half pre-tax profits. The group’s revenues edged up by 2% on an underlying basis and its performance for the year will, as always, be dependent on the Christmas period. Royal Mail is opening six temporary parcel sort centres and recruiting over 20,000 staff to handle the expected traffic and will also extend opening hours at many of its enquiry offices to help retailers and consumers. Royal Mail’s shares were up by more than 2.3%.”

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