- Operational update well received by investors- Portfolio built to withstand 'higher for longer' interest rates- Market needs to focus on earnings not valuationsShareholders gave a thumbs-up to the latest operational update from Land Securities (LAND), one of the UK's leading real estate companies with a £10.9 billion property portfolio.The shares gained 10p or 1.7% to 586p, stemming eight...

Concerns around a second wave of coronavirus infections led global stock markets sharply lower on Monday morning.The FTSE 100 index plunged 2.2% in early trade, dropping back below the 6,000 mark to hit 5,969 points.In Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 fell a whopping 3.5%, with the Hang Seng in Hong Kong dropping 2.32%. US equity futures are pointing to a 2% fall in indices there later today.BPS...

The idea of investing in UK property might make you fearful given political instability created by the upcoming general election and ongoing Brexit saga. But there is genuine merit in having exposure to UK property as part of a diversified portfolio given its enduring income appeal.We believe this exposure should be selective. In this article we identify four of our prime property picks, each...

Anyone visiting or living in London will be aware that office blocks continue to spring up all over the place, with the skyline dominated by cranes as developers press ahead with new projects.But if you move outside the M25 the story is very different as we explain in this article.We've spoken to Midlands-focused property investor Real Estate Investors (RLE), or REI for short, and...

London's FTSE 100 rebounds on Monday, up 82.15 points to 6,792.43, recovering from Friday's banking stock-led falls. The market is drawing strength from a rally in Asian stocks triggered by a firmer oil price and brushing aside caution ahead of this week's Federal Reserve policy meeting.In corporate news, the session's main casualty is outsourcing giant Mitie (MTO), which slumps 26.5% to...

Income is the main attraction for people investing in a real estate investment trust (REIT). These property-focused funds avoid paying corporation or capital gains tax on their rental income or cash generated from asset sales if they return 90% of their profits to shareholders as dividends.Not only do REITs hand more of their earnings to shareholders than most other listed companies, but the...

Birmingham-focused shops and offices specialist Real Estate Investors (RLE:AIM) could beat dividend expectations for 2015 thanks to a material deal pipeline and selling assets above book value.As a real estate investment trust it must return 90% of its profits to escape a corporation tax charge. So the 2p a share dividend, equivalent to a 2.9% dividend yield, forecast by Liberum for 2015 could...

London's FTSE 100 trades lower again on Friday, as investors fret over fighting in Yemen, a slowing US economy as well as Greece's precarious finances, with the blue-chip benchmark off 20.7 points at 6,874.63 early on.Among the risers is high-flying HomeServe (HSV), the boiler cover-to-drainage insurance play marked up 11.9p (3.3%) to 375p on a well received pre-close trading statement. The...

Stat of the week: 25%This is the potential upside in Real Estate Investors' (RLE:AIM) net asset value (NAV) per share by 2016. Analysts at Liberum Capital expect it to reach 71.5p by this point, reflecting not only improving valuations in the commercial and residential property play, but also a reflection of putting its existing cash and reinvesting money from asset disposals into new bricks...

3D conversion technology minnow DDD Group (DDD:AIM) rockets 43% to 5.75p despite no new news. The company last week won new licences for its TriDef technology for use in mobile devices but today's rally will have investors wondering if some bigger news will emerge.Smart Metering Systems (SMS:AIM) makes it first acquisition with the £14 million cash and shares purchase of Cardiff-based Utility...