Hammerson’s share price rose today after it looked to draw a line under its involvement in the UK’s retail parks sector, by exchanging on the portfolio sale of its final seven sites to Brookfield Asset Management.
The FTSE 250 landlord’s shares were valued at 37p at the close, a near 2% gain, as it closes in on a £330m cash deal for the retail parks.
The deal is expected to complete by the end of May. When it does, it will mark Hammerson’s long-awaited exit from the sector.
Elsewhere, property shares were among the biggest fallers on the FTSE 100, with Landsec finishing 1.6% down at 703.6p and British Land similarly declining by around 1.6%, to 502p. SEGRO, yesterday’s top riser in the index, fell by 1.1% to 993.8p.
That was despite the blue chip index stabilising after suffering its worst day since mid-February on Tuesday, amid fears of a Covid-19 resurgence in India. The index closed at 6,895 points, edging up by 0.5%.
More broadly, the biggest real estate faller in the FTSE 350 was GCP Student Living, which was 3.3% down at the close, at 171.4p. Grainger fell by 2.6% to 274.2p, while Shaftesbury was down 2.6% to 621.5p. Great Portland Estates fell by 2.4% to 683.5p.
The FTSE 250 inched down by 0.1% to 22,085 points.
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