Hammerson plc
Interim Management Statement for the period from 1 January 2012 to 19 April 2012
David Atkins, Chief Executive, said:
"Hammerson has again performed well despite the challenging economic backdrop and continued pressure on household incomes. We are attracting leading retailers to our shopping centres and retail parks. During the quarter, we agreed leases with rents in excess of ERV and occupancy remains ahead of our 97% target. I believe our focus on being the best owner-manager and developer of retail property within Europe will deliver industry-leading returns for shareholders."
Operations
Overall occupancy in the portfolio remains high at 97.1% (31 December 2011: 97.9%). This is ahead of our occupancy target of 97%, and the equivalent figure of 96.7% at 31 March 2011.
|
Occupancy (%) |
UK Retail |
France |
UK Office |
Group |
|
31 March 2012 |
96.6 |
98.1 |
98.3 |
97.1 |
We signed 56 new leases in the period representing 16,800m2, and worth £3.5 million of rental income per annum. In the UK we signed long-term leases in the retail portfolio with rents, overall, 3.3% above ERV as at December 2011. In France, long-term leases were signed at levels 0.4% above ERV.
Footfall in our UK shopping centre portfolio declined 1.9% compared to Q1 2011, with the UK index falling 2.9%. UK tenants' sales fell 1.7%, versus the BRC non-food index which was down 0.4%. Tenants' sales improved each month throughout the quarter, and were positive in March. In France, reflecting weakness at anchor stores, footfall in our shopping centres was down 4.3%, against a flat benchmark. French tenants' sales were down 1.6% over the period.
