Financial Review

Headline results

Profit before tax was £375.2m for the six months to 30 September 2007, down from £1,178.2m for the comparable period. ‘Profit before tax’ includes the revaluation surplus on our investment properties, and the reduction in profit before tax for the period was almost entirely due to the lower, but still positive, revaluation surplus on our investment properties. Earnings per share at 78.57p were similarly impacted (six months to 30 September 2006: 183.25p). Revenue profit, our measure of underlying profit before tax, decreased from £193.1m to £172.8m for the reasons explained below under ‘Revenue profit’. Adjusted diluted earnings per share showed an 11.0% increase on the prior period to 36.46p (six months to 30 September 2006: 32.84p), the increase being largely attributable to the majority of our activities no longer being subject to tax since we became a REIT on 1 January 2007.

The combined portfolio rose in value from £14,752.5m to £15,043.2m. This included a valuation surplus of £130.8m or 0.9%. Net assets per share rose by 2.3% to 2356p from 2304p, with adjusted diluted net assets per share rising by 2.5% to 2236p (31 March 2007: 2181p).