FINANCE: Capital & Regional’s EPRA NAV per share increased by 8.1% to 53p per share in the six months to 30 June.
The retail specialist made a pretax profit of £11.7m during the period, compared with £3.7m in June last year.
Capital & Regional succeeded in acquiring a controlling stake in the Mall Fund after the end of the reporting period and completed a five-year refinancing of £375m of debt in the fund at a cost of 3.4%. Proforma see-through net debt-to-property value for the company as a whole is 55% following the Mall acquisition.
Acquiring the remaining minority holdings in the Mall Fund and restructuring the fund, plus selling off UK and non-core assets are the company’s immediate priorities, according to a company statement this morning. Capital & Regional hopes that these sales will bring LTV down to between 40% and 50%. The company also hopes to convert to a REIT in December.
Chief executive Hugh Scott-Barrett said: “We are entering a very exciting period for Capital & Regional, in which the group will benefit from its enlarged stake in the Mall and significant asset management initiatives at a time when retailer interest in both upsizing and taking new space in well located town centre schemes is increasing. The initiatives generate very attractive returns and are central to the investment case presented to shareholders at the time of the capital raise. The continuing strength of investment markets is also expected to provide support for a further uplift in valuations during the rest of this year.”
sophia.furber@estatesgazette.com
