Intu Properties, the company behind shopping centres such as Lakeside in Essex, has said a cash call could be on the cards after being engulfed by the high street crisis.
The heavily indebted shopping centre operator said its like-for-like rental income had fallen by about 9% this year and would fall again next year owing to the tough retail climate. Intu blamed the declines in part on the company voluntary arrangements – an insolvency process used to reduce rent bills and close stores – used by Sir Philip Green’s Arcadia group and Monsoon
Shares in Intu fell on Wednesday by 17% to just 33p on the back of the gloomy update. Its chief executive, Matthew Roberts said options on the table also included selling some of the company’s assets in order to reduce its near-£5bn debt pile.
Intu had had a difficult four months, with the CVAs “slightly worse than expected”, he said. “Our number one priority is to fix the balance sheet. We have a clear plan to do this … these options include disposing of assets, where we are in the advanced stages of selling two of our Spanish assets, through to raising equity, which is also likely to form part of the solution.”
