PROPERTY giant Land Securities said it made “sound progress” during the first quarter, in a trading update today.

The firm, which owns Liverpool’s St John’s shopping centre and the neighbouring Clayton Square centre, reported good interest in its London portfolio and its retail sites around the country, despite concerns over the weak economy.

It achieved property sales totalling £177.1m in the quarter, at 7.9% above March 2011 valuations.

The group has a variety of retail schemes either under construction or undergoing expansion around the country, including in Leeds, Glasgow and Cardiff, despite experiencing static footfall in its centres during the period.

Chief executive Francis Salway said today: “While the quarter has seen a period of uncertainty in the wider economy, out activities show that our plan continues to deliver opportunities for value creation.

“The outlook for development in London remains attractive and, despite the mixed messages in the retail sector, our leasing activity demonstrates that the stronger retailers are looking to take new space.

“This retail demand has meant we have, over the past few months, also begun to step up our activity in retail development predominantly in edge of town locations and we now have a £275m, 1m sq ft pipeline of opportunities to meet the growing demand from food and fashion retailers for space.”

Liverpool stockbroker Panmure Gordon retained its ‘hold’ recommendation to shareholders for the stock, saying: “The trading update reiterates the familiar themes of strong tenant demand and growth in rents in central London, while the retail environment remains challenging albeit with some bright spots.”