Hammerson has appointed Himanshu Raja, who was until last month finance chief at Countrywide, as its new chief financial officer.
Raja, who will join the REIT next week, was CFO at Countrywide until its sale to Connells in March. He has also held senior financial positions at outsourcing giant G4S, software company Misys and management consultancy Logica.
He replaces current finance boss James Lenton, who gave notice of his resignation in January, and joins as chief executive Rita-Rose Gagné heads a strategic review of the business following a year of pandemic-induced turbulence. Gagné said Raja would bring “a blend of strong financial, strategic and leadership qualities”.
The announcement came as Hammerson filed its most recent quarterly rent collection update, which has continued to reflect a tenant base still struggling after a period of sustained lockdowns in the UK and Europe.
The retail landlord said it had collected 51% of rent due for the first three months of 2021, and 40% for the second quarter – or £17.9m out of £51.5m due.
That equates to 48% of second-quarter rent in the UK, 34% in Ireland and 23% in France. The two EU nations remain in lockdown, with Covid-19 infection rates still high, while England allowed non-essential retailers and hospitality businesses to partially reopen last week. Nine out of 10 of Hammerson’s English tenants are now trading again.
The company said that in England, footfall had risen to become competitive with pre-pandemic levels, at around 80% of the numbers seen in April 2019.
It added: “The company continues to work hard with brand partners to focus on improving collection rates on agreed rents. Looking forward to when all occupiers are able to operate, we expect collection rates for both the current year and FY20 to continue to improve as restrictions are eased across territories.”
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