ONE of Merseyside’s biggest commercial property owners is denying that it has given its chief executive just six months to revive the company’s fortunes or face the sack.

Press reports over the weekend suggested Francis Salway had been told to come up with a “radical business plan” after the group reported huge annual losses of almost £4.8bn.

Land Securities owns Liverpool’s St St John’s and Clayton Square shopping centres, as well as retail parks at Aintree Racecourse and Chester.

It is committed to a £100m upgrade of St John’s, which is in serious need of modernisation.

Responding to the reports about Mr Salway, the company said in a statement: “In our preliminary statement only two weeks ago, it was made clear that the executive team led by Francis had shown their mettle in the face of the formidable challenges facing the industry. Nothing has changed since then.”

The report claimed there was growing concern among the firm’s independent directors that it had lost direction.

The outcome of the review, it added, will determine the futures of Mr Salway and Mike Hussey, the group’s second in command.

Shares in the £3.7bn group, which tapped investors for £755m in a February rights issue, have under-performed the sector and the FTSE 100 so far this year.

Last year, Land Securities abandoned a plan to split into two companies – one specialising in shops and the other in London property. Mike Prew, property analyst at Nomura, said: “In our opinion, the sector is increasingly looking bereft of leadership and innovation.”

Earlier this month, Land Securities made a £4.77bn pre-tax loss for the year to March 31 after the value of its shopping centres and offices slumped 34%. However, it reiterated its aim to revamp St John’s centre, albeit on a deferred timetable.

Work should have started next year, but will now begin in 2012, with a 2014 completion date. On the day of the results, Nick Davis, Land Securities’ retail development director, said: “We received detailed planning consent last June and we will now be undertaking important preparation ahead of a possible start in 2012. We would have been targeting a slightly earlier start, but the downturn has been more severe than we expected.

“We believe that Liverpool is a strong city, and we are confident that we will have returned to normal levels of demand for retail floorspace in the city by the time of starting on site.”