Hammerson’s chief executive insisted yesterday that a wide-ranging new strategy to reinvigorate the shopping centre owner was a “bold move” despite scepticism in the City.
Although reaction to a plan that includes everything from asset sales to new retailer contracts was muted, as evidenced by a barely changed share price, David Atkins bullishly described the changes as “leaving no stone unturned”.
His strategy includes the sale of £1.1bn of assets within the next 18 months, the disposal of all 13 of its retail parks by 2020, buying back shares worth £300m and cutting borrowing.
Shareholder pressure has been mounting on Hammerson since April when it abandoned a £3.4bn buyout of its smaller rival Intu, the company behind Manchester’s Trafford centre, and rejected a £5bn takeover approach from the French shopping centres group, Klépierre.
The Guardian added that Hammerson also plans to cut by a quarter the amount of space given over to department stores, while high street fashion space would be reduced by a fifth, replaced by “aspirational fashion, leisure, events and lifestyle spaces”.
The FTSE 250 group said it would increase non-UK exposure above half of its portfolio for the first time in its recent history in a move described by the FT as an about-face from Hammerson’s attempt to acquire its rival Intu which would have shifted its portfolio heavily towards the UK.
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