Capital & Regional has confirmed that it repaid around £144m of debt across two funds.
In an interim statement released today, C&R said that The Mall fund repaid debt of £104m with the proceeds from the sale of Alhambra Centre, South Yorkshire, and the Cleveland Centre, Middlesbrough, leaving outstanding debt of £662.3m at the end of the period from the end of June to 10 November.
In The Junction fund, debt was reduced by £39.6m with the proceeds from the sale of the South Aylesford retail park in Maidstone for £70.6m, leaving outstanding debt of £163.7m at 31 October 2011.
This fund also made a capital distribution of £48.5m in November, of which the group’s share was £6.5m.
During the period, 31 lettings were signed, for headline rent of £3.7m, 4.8% ahead of ERV, although the company said that new lettings would take longer to complete.
Occupancy improved across all three UK funds since June, with The Mall up 0.5%, The Junction rising 1.1% and X-Leisure up 0.9%.
There were 15 administrations in the three UK funds during Q3 with a passing rent of £700,000, of which £300,000 is still being received. There were no administrations in the German fund.
The Mall’s footfall in Q3 jumped by 5.2% from the second quarter, C&R said.
In addition, on 12 October the firm said The Mall’s valuation decreased by1.3%, The Junction’s value declined by 0.3% and X-Leisure’s increased by 0.9%.
The X-Leisure fund had a valuation as at 31 October 2011 of £555.6m, a net initial yield of 6.6%. This is down by 0.2% from the September valuation.
Hugh Scott-Barrett, C&R’s chief executive, said: “Property valuations have been broadly stable across the businesses. Occupancy has improved and footfall in the shopping centres is up. Fund disposals in the quarter have helped to de-gear the balance sheet and recycle cash back to the group.”
joanna.bourke@estatesgazette.com
