Wrap Text
Interim Management Statement for the Period from 1 July 2014 to 3 November 2014
INTU PROPERTIES PLC
(Registration number UK3685527)
ISIN Code: GB0006834344
JSE Code: ITU
3 NOVEMBER 2014
INTU PROPERTIES PLC
INTERIM MANAGEMENT STATEMENT FOR THE PERIOD FROM 1 JULY 2014 TO 3
NOVEMBER 2014 *
*Brought forward from scheduled date of 6 November 2014 to coincide with today’s announcement of the proposed bond
Highlights of the period:
- Continued improvement in retailer demand with 71 new long term leases
agreed for £13 million new annual rent, five per cent above previous passing
rent and in line with valuation assumptions
- Key operating metrics are stable, with year to date footfall up one per cent and
occupancy marginally reduced since 30 June 2014 at 95 per cent
- Initiated asset management plans at the recently acquired intu Derby and intu
Merry Hill with new lettings exceeding expectations
- Successfully refinanced £453 million of existing bank facilities with £763
million of new facilities; also announced today a proposed further £350 million
bond issue. Increased overall headroom in terms of cash and committed
facilities to over £750 million
- £1.2 billion development pipeline on track. Active management projects
completed at intu Lakeside (food court) and intu Eldon Square (mall upgrade),
on site at intu Potteries (cinema and restaurants) and intu Victoria Centre
(restaurants and reconfigurations)
- Further customer service and digital initiatives including the launch of
upgraded and fully mobile enabled website intu.co.uk
- Recognised for a 30 per cent like for like reduction in carbon emissions since
2011 winning the ‘Best in continuing carbon reduction’ category in the Carbon
Trust Standard Bearers Awards
David Fischel, Chief Executive, commented:
“We are pleased to see continued improvement in retailer demand for space, particularly
evident in centres where we are undertaking investment and development projects. The
benefits of last year’s rebranding as intu have been enhanced by further customer service
and digital initiatives in the period. The balance sheet is in good shape strengthened by
recent financing transactions and we have a wide range of organic growth opportunities with
strong momentum in our £1.2 billion development pipeline.”
Economic and retail property background
The UK economic environment has continued to improve with a seventh consecutive quarter
of GDP growth, a sustained increase in consumer confidence and like-for-like non-food sales
now positive for over two years.
According to the IPD retail property index, this is now beginning to translate into an uplift in
retail rental values, with the index showing rental value growth for the last four months, the
first positive period of this length since 2008.
At Intu, we continue to see areas of increased interest from retailers, including for new
brands and flagship stores, particularly in centres where we have been undertaking or have
plans for capital expenditure.
Operating metrics
The Group’s operating metrics are broadly stable:
- 71 new long term leases were signed in the quarter, representing £13 million of new
passing rent, in aggregate five per cent above previous passing rent and in line with
valuation assumptions. This brings the total for the year to date to 169 leases
producing £28 million of new annual rent, five per cent above previous passing rent.
Signings in the period include:
o 20 new catering lettings across the portfolio including Yo Sushi! and Pret a
Manger to intu Braehead, Coast to Coast to intu Metrocentre and Wagamama
and Chiquito’s to intu Uxbridge. We have also completed the line up at the
intu Potteries leisure development and secured important lettings for the
Clock Tower development at intu Victoria Centre.
o New brands include Tag Heuer at intu Metrocentre and 7 For All Mankind at
Manchester Arndale. River Island is upsizing to a new store at intu
Metrocentre and taking a flagship store at intu Victoria Centre.
o At intu Merry Hill and intu Derby, we have completed our first lettings since
the acquisition at levels above the previous rental tone and further developed
our asset management strategy for intu Merry Hill.
- Footfall for the year to date is one per cent higher than for the same period of 2013,
ahead of Experian’s measure of national retail footfall which is slightly negative year
on year.
- Occupancy across our centres remains high at 95 per cent (30 June 2014 - 96 per
cent; 30 September 2013 – 95 per cent). The slight reduction in occupancy reflects
two tenants, Phones 4u and La Senza, with 39 units and one per cent of annual rent
who failed and closed in the period; however we anticipate good demand for these
units.
Financing
Net external debt was unchanged at £3.9 billion at 30 September 2014 and the debt to
assets ratio (based on 30 June valuations) was 44 per cent. On a pro forma basis, were the
2.5 per cent convertible bonds 2018 to convert into equity, the net debt to assets ratio would
reduce to 41 per cent. Cash and available facilities amounted to £548 million at 30
September 2014.
In the period we concluded the refinancing of £453 million of bank facilities with £763 million
of new facilities:
- In August, we concluded a £163 million combined term loan and revolving credit
facility on the Group’s 50 per cent equity interest in St David’s shopping centre in
Cardiff, replacing our £78 million share of the joint venture’s debt that matured in
August 2014.
- In October we refinanced the Group’s revolving credit facility with a new £600 million
facility maturing in October 2019 replacing the existing £375 million facility which was
due to expire in 2018.
Including the refinanced revolving credit facility, cash and available funds increase to over
£750 million on a pro-forma basis as at 30 September 2014.
Today, we announced a proposed £350 million bond following the planned addition of intu
Derby and intu Chapelfield into the Group’s secured funding structure (“SGS”). The
proceeds of the new issue will be used to repay the existing debt facilities secured on intu
Derby and intu Chapelfield.
Property valuations
As part of the announcement of the proposed bond, the four existing secured assets (intu
Lakeside, intu Braehead, intu Watford and intu Victoria Centre) and the two assets to be
added (intu Derby and intu Chapelfield) were valued on 13 October 2014. Their aggregate
valuation of £3,146 million is an increase of £16 million on their valuation at 30 June 2014 of
£3,130 million. This includes intu Derby valued at £419 million (purchase price £388 million;
30 June 2014 £406 million).
The investment market remains strong with increased competition from a wide range of
investors for shopping centres coming to the market. Our half year valuations benefitted from
the resulting yield compression with indications of continued downward pressure on yields
since the half year.
Development activity
Our £1.2 billion development pipeline is on track with active management projects at intu
Lakeside (food court) and intu Eldon Square (mall upgrade) completed. On-going projects in
the period are:
- intu Potteries: the majority of the steel structural work is finished for the £20 million
leisure extension. The leases for the cinema and five new restaurants are all
exchanged, bringing Cineworld, Nando’s, Frankie & Benny’s, Pizza Express, GBK
and Chiquito’s to the centre’s line up. The new leisure scheme is on target for
completion in summer 2015.
- intu Victoria Centre: work is on-going on the £42 million mall refreshment and
creation of 12 new restaurants in the catering quarter around the historic Clock
Tower. Handmade Burger Co, Coast to Coast, Tortilla and Ed’s Easy Diner have
exchanged contracts on the catering development bringing four new catering names
to Nottingham.
- intu Watford: the main contractor has been appointed for the £100 million Charter
Place redevelopment and we continue to expect to start on site in 2015.
Customer service and digital initiatives
We continue to receive positive feedback, via our “tell intu” programme, on the customer
service provided by staff in our centres, with a strong correlation between the quality of the
experience and the time and money customers spend.
In September 2014 we launched the new version of our web-site, intu.co.uk, which is now
fully mobile enabled with improved content and an enhanced shopper proposition. We
estimate over 12 million visitors access our web-site per annum.
The installation of fibre-optic backbone at intu Chapelfield and intu Uxbridge is now
complete. High quality Wi-Fi is now available at 13 centres and we have seen total
connections of over four million in the last 12 months. Almost 1.3 million individuals have
now registered, with more than half opting to receive marketing information, with our total
active marketing database now amounting to 1.7 million individuals.
Spain
At Parque Principado, the centre remains almost fully let and the tenant mix continues to
evolve with Mango upsizing and Desigual introduced as a new brand.
We have entered a further arrangement with Eurofund, our local partner with a track record
of successful retail development in Spain, for pre-development activity on a site under option
in Palma, Mallorca. On our other development options in Malaga, Valencia and Vigo, we
continue to work on bringing these developments forward to the point where we can
consider exercising the options, with the first decision likely to be in respect of Malaga in
early 2015.
Corporate and Social Responsibility
In October 2014, the Group received a prestigious carbon reduction award, the ‘Best in
continuing carbon reduction’, at the Carbon Trust Standard Bearers Awards organised by
the Carbon Trust, the independent experts on carbon reduction and resource efficiency. On
a like for like basis we have reduced our carbon emissions by over 30 per cent compared to
2011. An example of this is installing LED light bulbs across car parks, back of house and
main shopping malls at a cost of £6 million resulting in £2 million of electricity savings each
year as well as reduced lamp replacement costs.
Conference call
A conference call for analysts and investors will be held today at 9.30 GMT.
A copy of this announcement is available for download from our website at intugroup.co.uk
ENQUIRIES
Intu Properties plc
David Fischel Chief Executive +44 (0)20 7960 1207
Matthew Roberts Chief Financial Officer +44 (0)20 7960 1353
Adrian Croft Head of Investor Relations +44 (0)20 7960 1212
Public relations
UK: Michael Sandler/Wendy Baker, Hudson Sandler +44 (0)20 7796 4133
SA: Frédéric Cornet, Instinctif Partners +27 (0)11 447 3030
Sponsor:
Merrill Lynch South Africa (Pty) Ltd
NOTES FOR EDITORS
Intu owns and operates many of the very best shopping centres, in many of the strongest locations right across
the country, including nine of the UK’s top 20. You can find the UK’s top retailers in our shopping centres,
alongside some of the world’s most iconic global brands.
With over 21 million sq ft of retail space, our centres attract over 400 million customer visits a year and more than
half of the UK population visit one of our centres each year.
At the forefront of UK shopping centre evolution since the 1970s, our focus is on creating compelling destinations
for customers with added theatre.
Our nationwide consumer facing shopping centre brand - intu - is transforming our customer experience and
digital proposition, including a transactional website with a view to providing the UK’s leading shopping centre
experience both on and off-line at 15 centres
We have an investment plan of £1.2 billion over the next ten years with projects at most of our centres.
Almost 100,000 people are employed at our centres across the UK and we are fully committed to supporting our
local communities and the wider environment through meaningful and hands-on initiatives.
For further information see www.intugroup.co.uk
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