The new chief executive of troubled industrial property landlord Brixton today said his priority was to raise enough cash to shore up its fragile finances and survive the recession.

Peter Dawson, who took the helm after Tim Wheeler was sacked this month, said he was working "flat out" to prevent the company from breaching loan agreements as property values plummet.

He is "exploring all the options" available including a rights issue and property sales.

Brixton owns warehouses around Heathrow and Park Royal and the Evening Standard last week revealed it was looking to sell up to £250 million of property as it struggles to raise funds from shareholders.

Rivals Segro, British Land, Land Securities and Hammerson and have already launched rights issues but there are mounting concerns in the City that Brixton will not get the support it needs given the amount investors have already been asked for.

Brixton today posted losses of £768.8 million for 2008 compared with profits of £58.2 million a year before. Its net asset value nosedived 47% to 290p a share and axed the final dividend.

The value of its portfolio fell 27.2% to £1.8 billion but net rental income rose 6.8% to £77.4 million.