It was a case of triples all round at property developer Hammerson, which saw its pretax profits rise three fold under new accounting rules.

The company, which was part of the Birmingham Alliance consortium behind the Bullring, restated its pretax profits at £413.4 million under the new International Financial Reporting Standards.

This compared with £127.2 million posted on a basis of the UK Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP).

Under IFRS, its adjusted net asset value per share was restated at £945 million, up from £936 million.

Meanwhile, net rental income rose from £ 188.4 million to £189.5 million, following the adoption of the new rules.

The principal changes arising from the adoption of IFRS for the group's 2004 results are the inclusion of investment property valuation changes in the income statement and the inclusion in the balance sheet of the contingent tax liability.

It also includes the capitalisation of the minimum lease payments in respect of leasehold property interests.