Hammerson, which owns and operates shopping centres including Birmingham’s Bullring and London’s Brent Cross, has posted a rise in rental income and “increased capacity and capability” after selling its £1.5bn stake in Bicester Village.
Like-for-like gross rental income grew by 2% for the six months ending June 30, 2024, while occupancy reached 94%.
Footfall at the landlord’s locations rose by 1%, while footfall and like-for-like sales at its flagships were up 1% and down 3% respectively.
Hammerson’s results come just days after the announcement that it had sold its £1.5bn stake in designer outlet Bicester Village in Oxfordshire.
The deal will generate proceeds of £598m for the group, which it said would “significantly enhance” the group’s net debt, liquidity and credit metrics, and would give it “the capacity and capability to accelerate growth and value creation”.
Hammerson said the sale would realign its portfolio to city-centre locations in growing catchments and that it intends to use the proceeds from the sale to pay debts, return £140m to shareholders and invest in higher-yielding assets.
Hammerson chief executive Rita-Rose Gagné said: “I am pleased to report we’ve had a strong first half. We are realising the benefits of our investments in recent years and, with the agreed disposal of Value Retail, we now have the capacity and capability to accelerate growth and value creation.
“Our leading city-centre destinations are in high demand, supported by our ongoing investment and repositioning. This is evidenced by another year-on-year increase in leasing, up 24%. This is driving top-line growth with more to come.
“At the same time, we have delivered another outperformance on costs, down 16% year on year. In the first half, we also completed our £500m disposals programme, realigning our core portfolio to leading city-centre destinations, while further strengthening the balance sheet. We now have a strong, scalable platform as we look to drive further operating leverage.
“I am excited by the opportunity ahead and confident we will continue to grow the top line and earnings off our new base, reflected in the 5% increase in the interim dividend.”
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