Corporate real estate firm to buy in City after strong profits

Monday, March 29, 2010

Canary Wharf owners looking to expand corporate real estate operations in to City of London after strong 2009

By Ashley Brunskill

Songbird, the corporate real estate owner of Canary Wharf, has signalled its intention to buy more office space in the City of London after a strong yearly performance.

According to the Financial Times, the firm has around £1 billion on its balance sheet to purchase new space after receiving resources from Qatari and Chinese backers.

The company reported a 10.7 per cent rise in rental income last year making £318.4 million and its property portfolio increased in value by 7.6 per cent over the second half of 2009 to be worth £5 billion.

It is believed Songbird is well placed to grow in what is becoming a more attractive corporate real estate market to big players such as Morgan Stanley, Commerzbank and Invesco.

Despite a continued financial crisis affecting a number of its clients such as investment banks and financial services, Songbird said its office space was 96.2 per cent let by December 2009, compared with 99.7 per cent at the end of 2008.

Chairman David Pritchard said: "All of these transactions have been highly positive for the company and are a vote of confidence in the achievements of Canary Wharf Group and London as a global business centre."

Source: ask-re The Property People LLP