Sell Covid struck Hammerson

The enforced closure of non-essential retail stores and leisure facilities has devastated rent collections for shopping centre landlord Hammerson (HMSO). But income and asset values were under strain long before the Covid-19 outbreak. Despite the government issuing a timeline for businesses to reopen depending on how the infection rate behaves, many retail and leisure groups have been left in a precarious cash position after months of lost income. That is likely to place further pressure not only on rent collection in the coming months, but also on the ability of landlords such as Hammerson to negotiate leases anywhere near pre-Covid rents over the longer term. Those concerns are reflected in rising short interest in the shares, which has hit 11.1 per cent, making the stock the second most heavily shorted in London.