BRIXTON Plc, the United Kingdom's largest owner of industrial buildings, has reported a loss for the first half as the company's properties depreciated.

Net loss was 235 million pounds (US$438 million), or 86.8 pence a share, compared with a profit of 192 million pounds, or 70.9 pence, a year earlier, the London-based company said yesterday in a statement obtained by Bloomberg News.

Net asset value, excluding derivatives and deferred tax on value gains, fell 18 percent to 448 pence a share.

Chief Executive Officer Tim Wheeler has focused on developing and buying properties near London's Heathrow Airport, where a shortage of logistics centers and warehouses in the area is helping lift rental income.

In the first half, Brixton's real estate lost 10 percent of its value.