East Mids shopping centre operator reports record retailer demand
intu, the shopping centre operator that owns a mall in Derby and the Victoria and Broadmarsh centres in Nottingham, has reported record levels of retailer demand for its first quarter to 17 April.
In an announcement this morning (17 April), intu said that its shopping centres were experiencing increased footfall year-on-year to date, excluding the periods of severe snow,
by 1.5 per cent in the UK and continuing to outperform its UK benchmark.
David Fischel, intu chief executive, said: “Our prime shopping centres produced a strong first quarter with lettings at increased rents, high occupancy and footfall exceeding the comparable period last year, with footfall significantly and consistently outperforming the ShopperTrak national retail benchmark over the last five years.
“We continue to see growth opportunities for our £10 billion UK portfolio. We have a substantial ongoing investment programme that will see us open our £180 million extension at intu Watford later this year and the £72 million leisure extension at intu Lakeside next year, with lettings proceeding strongly in both cases. We are also planning to invest over £560 million in our UK centres over the next three years.”
intu’s proposed £150m redevelopment isn’t mentioned in the trading update. It remains to be seen whether the firm’s £3.4bn merger with rival Hammerson will go ahead after Hammerson rebuffed a £5bn takeover from French operator Klépierre last week.
