Expansion plan boosts Intu’s income
SHOPPING centre landlord Intu yesterday unveiled a “significant increase” in rental income and earnings in the first half of the year, thanks to acquisitions in Spain and expansion in the UK.
The owner of the Trafford Centre in Manchester and Lakeside in Essex recently bought the Puerto Venecia centre in Zaragoza and a site of land on the Costa del Sol near Malaga where it plans to construct a new shopping centre next year.
In the UK, it is expanding five leisure and restaurant centres, with plans for a major extension to its Watford site this year.
Net rental income increased by 9.6 per cent to £207.6m over the period, while the value of its property portfolio rose from £9bn to a record £9.5bn. Underlying earnings per share increased by six per cent to 6.8p, which the firm said reflected both the acquisitions and lower average finance costs.
“We remain on track to return to a positive like-for-like rental performance for the full year and are well positioned to deliver a more meaningful uplift in 2016,” said chief executive David Fischel.