Trafford Centre owner reports record retailer demand
Trafford Centre and Arndale owner intu 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.
The firm also revealed that international brand Abercrombie & Fitch is to open only its second UK store at the Trafford Centre
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.”
He added: “Since the end of 2017, a number of administrations and restructurings have been initiated by tenants, including New Look, Toys R Us and Prezzo. The majority of our units with these operators are still trading as the tenants go through their restructuring processes.
“The estimated impact of these administrations and restructurings is approximately £3.9 million in 2018, equivalent to 0.8 per cent of our 2017 net rental income.
“This is before we take any mitigating actions to find quality replacement tenants and reduce property operating expenses to minimise the impact of any closures. Our like-for-like net rental income guidance is inclusive of the effect of these administrations and restructurings.”
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.
