Peering through the gloom generated in the wake of the EU referendum, we find shopping centre landlord Capital & Regional (CAL) performing well enough in the first half to push through a higher interim dividend, and drive like-for-like rental income up 3.9 per cent to £23.8m. Headline numbers were affected by last year’s £57m valuation gain on the portfolio giving way to a £10.3m fall.
A total of 27 new lettings were secured, generating rent of £2m at 4.6 per cent above previous estimated rental value. A further 11 renewals brought in £1m but at a 5.3 per cent discount to the same measure. That's because existing tenants were opting for lower headline rents rather than receiving incentives on renewal. Closure of the three BHS stores within the portfolio will result in a £0.5m loss of income in the second half, but the sites are expected to be leased out for higher rent levels, and discussions are already taking place.
Footfall declined by 0.3 per cent in the period, which was relatively strong against a 1.7 per cent decline in the national index. But footfall from January until August showed a 0.2. per cent year-on-year increase.
Analysts at Peel Hunt are forecasting net asset value at the December 2016 year-end of 64.9p and net operating income of £47.1m (from 70.6p and £45.6m in 2015).
| CAPITAL & REGIONAL (CAL) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 59p | MARKET VALUE: | £413m | |
| TOUCH: | 59-59.75p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 72p | LOW: 44p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 5.5% | DEVELOPMENT PROP: | nil | |
| DISCOUNT TO NAV: | 17% | |||
| INVESTMENT PROP: | £959m* | NET DEBT: | 81% | |
| Half-year to 30 Jun | Net asset value (p) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 67 | 54.8 | 7.8 | 1.5 |
| 2016 | 71 | 7.2 | 1.0 | 1.62 |
| % change | +6 | -87 | -87 | +8 |
Ex-div: 29 Sep Payment: 27 Oct *Includes £13.6m in joint ventures and £15.6m in associates | ||||
