Intu Properties (INTU) has a new name, but it is the same old story from the mall landlord formerly known as Capital Shopping Centres. The company is still struggling to maintain its rental income in the face of retailer administrations. Like-for-like rental income, the key measure of underlying performance for retail landlords, fell 2.9 per cent in the first half. That’s slightly worse than 2012's 2.7 per cent decline, and considerably worse than the 2.5 per cent like-for-like rental growth reported in recent first-half results from sector peer Hammerson.
Chief executive David Fischel says the loss of retailers like Clinton Cards, Peacocks and Game last year is making for tough comparatives - just as the fall of HMV and Republic this year will knock next year's numbers. Occupancy fell from 96 per cent at the end of December to 95 per cent in June as the company sought to maintain the tone of its centres. "You can fill up the space, but we’re determined to fill it up with long-term tenants," explains Mr Fischel.
This strategy is based on the premise that long leases support valuations, which may be working. The portfolio was marked up 1 per cent over the period. But this was offset by the impact of February’s refinancing, which involved a dilutive equity placing and the closure of interest-rate swaps. Overall, adjusted NAV fell from 392p per share to 377p. Brokerage Investec expects it to return to 382p by December.
INTU PROPERTIES (INTU) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 328p | MARKET VALUE: | £3.2bn | |
| TOUCH: | 327-328p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 370p | LOW: 297p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 4.6% | TRADING PROP: | £1m | |
| DISCOUNT TO NAV: | 8% | |||
| INVESTMENT PROP: | £7.4bn | NET DEBT: | 109% | |
| Half-year to 30 Jun | Net asset value (p) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 344 | 70.2 | 8.90 | 5.00 |
| 2013 | 356 | 194 | 21.1 | 5.00 |
| % change | +3 | +177 | +137 | - |
Ex-div: 18 Oct Payment: 19 Nov | ||||
