Real estate firm British Land's profit, asset value drop

(Reuters) - Real estate firm British Land Co <BLND.L> on Wednesday reported a fall in profit and the value of its assets in the first half of the year, as a raft of retail store closures continue to hit the UK property market.

The company's shares slipped as much as 2% in early deals after it said underlying profit per share dropped 6.4%, while net asset value per share fell 5.4% for the six months ended Sept. 30.

The impact of a sluggish retailer sector has been felt across the board, with peer Land Securities <LAND.L> on Tuesday also pointing to challenges driven by retailers going into administration.

(Reporting by Pushkala Aripaka in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)