As the initial over-reaction to Brexit unwinds, so it becomes ever clearer how well Hammerson (HMSO) has been performing – despite all the hype. Net rental income in the six months to June rose nearly 10 per cent to £184m, while adjusted net asset value grew by 4.3 per cent to 771p. And as a mark of its quality, the property portfolio was given a £20.9m valuation uplift.
Total leasing volumes grew by 44 per cent, with 228 deals raising £18.1m, and these were achieved at 8 per cent ahead of estimated rental value. UK shopping centres make up a third of the portfolio, and while footfall slipped by 1.7 per cent, this was better than the 2.9 per cent decline in the Tyco benchmark index. It has also expanded into Ireland, acquiring a major loan portfolio secured on a number of Dublin retail assets from the National Asset Management Agency. And when combined with existing assets in Ireland, this gives it 220,000 square metres of high quality shopping centre space, with 99.9 per cent occupancy.
Disposals raised £97m and a further £400m will be raised in the second half. These will help to finance a major extension to the Brent Cross shopping centre, and further down the line a joint venture costing up to £700m as a part of the £5bn redevelopment of Croydon shopping centre.
Analysts at Peel Hunt are forecasting adjusted net asset value at the December 2017 year-end of 782p from 739p in 2016.
| HAMMERSON (HMSO) | ||||
| ORD PRICE: | 583p | MARKET VALUE: | £ 4.62bn | |
| TOUCH: | 582.5-583p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 615p | LOW: 529p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 4.2% | DEVELOPMENT PROPERTIES: | £215m | |
| DISCOUNT TO NAV: | 23% | |||
| INVESTMENT PROPERTIES: | £4.66bn | NET DEBT: | 61% | |
| Half-year to 30 Jun | Net asset value (p) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
| 2016 | 716 | 167 | 20.7 | 10.1 |
| 2017 | 757 | 290 | 36.2 | 10.7 |
| % change | +5 | +73 | +75 | +6 |
| Ex-div: | 31 Aug | |||
| Payment: | 09 Oct |
