12th Mar 2020 07:56
(Alliance News) - Intu Properties PLC on Thursday said it expects its like-for-like performance to improve going forward following a sharply widened loss recorded in 2019.
The London-headquartered real estate investment trust reported revenue down by 39% in 2019 to GBP542.3 million from GBP581.1 million the year before, with net rental income falling by 49% to GBP401.6 million from GBP450.5 million.
The company said its performance was hurt by disposals and administrations.
Intu's loss for the year widened to GBP2.02 billion from GBP1.17 billion in 2018, due to a property revaluation deficit and change in fair value of financial instruments.
The company said it will not be paying dividend for 2019, having declared a 4.6 pence a share payout for 2018.
Net asset value per share, meanwhile, dropped to 149p as at December 31 compared to 271p a year prior.
Intu shares were trading 2.5% higher in Johannesburg early on Thursday at ZAR1.22 a share.
"Our results are evidence of the challenges in our market, in particular structural changes ongoing in the retail sector, with some weaker retailers struggling to remain relevant in a multichannel environment," said Chief Executive Matthew Roberts.
"Looking in to 2020, we would expect like-for-like net rental income to be down, but by a lower amount than 2019. The Covid-19 situation is rapidly evolving and we are closely monitoring the impact on our centres. Our footfall is broadly unchanged for the first 10 weeks of 2020," added Roberts.
Intu reported like-for-like reduction of 9.1% in net rental income in 2019.
By Evelina Grecenko; [email protected]
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