Matthew Roberts, who was on Thursday named as Intu Properties’ incoming boss, said he is “confident” the shopping centres owner can go it alone after a year of takeover trauma.
Intu’s current finance chief Roberts will succeed long-standing boss David Fischel with effect from April 29.
FTSE 250 landlord Intu, which is behind centres in the UK and Spain, including Lakeside, said 55-year-old Roberts was appointed after “a rigorous search process”.
He takes the helm after a tough 2018 for the business that saw larger rival Hammerson ditch a £3.4 billion takeover offer and a consortium led by Brookfield and Intu’s deputy chairman John Whittaker walk away from talks.
Those proposals were respectively at 253.9p and 215p per share. The shares today slipped 0.65p to 105.35p.
Roberts told the Standard: “I feel very confident about our prospects as a standalone business. We have best-in-class assets and big global brands are taking space in our centres.”
The former finance director of both Debenhams and Gala Coral acknowledged that some High Street brands are struggling, with some looking to close shops amid weaker consumer confidence and biting online competition.
But he pointed out that chains such as Next and Zara have increased their space with Intu.
Roberts said: “I will be out on the road meeting key retailers over the next few months to discuss ways to help them grow their business.”
He will be looking to slash Intu’s £4.9 billion debt pile by having no dividend payouts “for the time being”, and selling some centres or stakes in them.
