Shaftesbury weighs hope against huge uncertainty

This is in addition to a £300m valuation hit, which explains the large statutory loss. Unsurprisingly, income has taken a serious knock, too. Although constructive lease discussions and a switch to monthly rent payments are designed to ease tenants’ pain, half of rents due between April and September are planned for collection “over time”. With that in mind, management has agreed, in principle, waivers of interest cover covenants with lenders for between nine and 12 months from April this year. 

Chief executive Brian Bickell expects most of that cash to come “within a year” and sees the busy green spaces and parks of central London as a sign of pent-up demand for a return to normalcy. “It’s like the seaside getting ready for the season,” he says. But while Shaftesbury’s 15.2-acre portfolio has a long history of reinvention, social distancing rules and visitor risk aversion remain huge challenges.

To help overcome this, the company has teamed up with other local landlords in a marketing push to get domestic and international footfall back in the autumn. Among those partners is Capital & Counties (CAPC), which last week acquired 26 per cent of Shaftesbury shares.

Consensus analyst forecasts are for net asset value per share of 856p by September, and 841p a year later.