Hammerson's occupancy slips but board still confident

28th Apr 2011 09:01

Real estate titan Hammerson saw its occupancy rate slip just below its target of 97% in the first quarter but remains confident in the growth potential in retail, making £308m of acquisitions in 2011 so far.Occupancy fell from 97.3% to 96.7% during the three months ended 31 March, with UK Retail and France Retail showing a 0.5 percentage point and 0.8 percentage point decline, respectively.Nevertheless, Hammerson said that sales at its shopping centres in the two regions outperformed national benchmarks in the quarter, with the UK portfolio showing a 1.5% like-for-like sales increase and France seeing a 0.3% decline."Whilst the economic backdrop for consumers remains difficult, we are seeing the benefit of our focus on regionally dominant shopping centres and convenient retail parks, which continue to attract successful retailers," said chief executive David Atkins.The group signed 48 new leases in the period. However, the 25 signed in the UK were 5% below the estimated rental value (ERV), while the remaining 23 in France were signed in line with ERV.In March, the group submitted a planning application to Leeds City Council for a 100,000m squared shopping centre, representing one of the largest shopping centre developments in the UK.""This has been an extremely active period where, in line with our strategy, we have enhanced the growth prospects of our portfolio through both acquisitions and progressing major developments," said Atkins.In a separate statement, the group said it has secured a new £505m five-year revolving bank credit facility, "which provides flexibility going forward," said chief financial officer Simon Melliss.---bc