If the proposed marriage between Intu (Intu) and Hammerson (HMSO) ever makes it up the aisle, this may be the last set of annual accounts from Intu, and will come as a merciful release for long-suffering shareholders who have watched the share price all but halve in the past three years.
Intu owns 10 of the top 25 shopping centres in the UK, but the sector as a whole faces significant headwinds, not least the change in consumer spending habits. This gave rise to some uninspiring performance metrics for 2017. Like-for-like rental income grew by just 0.5 per cent, while footfall was up 0.1 per cent, albeit beating the national retail average which fell 2.8 per cent. Both underlying earnings and the dividend were flat on the previous year.
The bright spot was Spain, where Intu owns three of the top 10 centres, and is on track to build a fourth. A total of 38 long-term leases were signed at an average 25 per cent above previous passing rent, while footfall rose by 1 per cent and occupancy was stable at 97 per cent.
Analysts at Peel Hunt are forecasting adjusted net asset value of 389.6p at the December 2018 year-end, compared with 411p in 2017.
| INTU PROPERTIES (INTU) | ||||
| ORD PRICE: | 211.2p | MARKET VALUE: | £2.86bn | |
| TOUCH: | 211.2-211.4p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 298p | LOW: 189p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 7% | DEVELOPMENT PROPERTIES: | £432m | |
| DISCOUNT TO NAV: | 44% | |||
| INVESTMENT PROP: | £9.5bn* | NET DEBT: | 86% | |
| Year to 31 Dec | Net asset value (p) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
| 2013 | 333 | 363 | 34.5 | 13.7 |
| 2014 | 347 | 594 | 48.0 | 13.7 |
| 2015 | 374 | 513 | 39.3 | 13.7 |
| 2016 | 371 | 188 | 13.7 | 14 |
| 2017 | 378 | 227 | 16.1 | 14 |
| % change | +2 | +21 | +18 | - |
| Ex-div: | 19 Apr | |||
| Payment: | 17 May | |||
| *Includes joint ventures and investment in associates | ||||
