Intu shopping centres plunge £1.4bn in value

BELEAGUERED shopping centre owner Intu has scrapped its full-year dividend after the value of its property empire tumbled by £1.4bn. The company, which owns 17 sites across the UK, reported annual losses of £1.2bn following the 13.3pc slump in the value of its estate. Its centres, including the Trafford Centre in Manchester, Metrocentre in Gateshead and Lakeside in Essex, are now valued at £ 9.2bn, attract around 400m visitors a year. But there was a 1.6pc fall in shoppers in 2018 as they went online. The bleak update sent Intu shares down 7.8pc to 108.95p. The stock was trading above 250p early last year. Intu was rocked by two failed takeovers last year as the High Street crisis saw shops go bust and thousands of stores close. Outgoing chief executive David Fischel said the writedown in the value of the Intu estate was a reaction to the gloom sweeping the industry. ‘The retail scene has been difficult in the last 12 months and investor’s views of shopping centres have become more pessimistic,’ he said.

Intu is now planning to sell assets to reduce its debt.

Analyst Russ Mould, the investment director at AJ Bell, said: ‘What a right mess Intu has got in to.

‘Being exposed to the retail sector is a poisoned chalice for property companies at the moment. In time, Intu could emerge a leaner business but for now it will have to keep taking the headache tablets and do its best to survive.’

Last year’s botched takeover offers wiped off almost half the firm’s value. In April, Birmingham Bullring owner Hammerson dropped its offer to buy Intu for £3.4bn after a backlash from investors.

And just weeks before retail’s crucial Christmas trading period, a consortium led by its largest investor and deputy chairman John Whittaker ditched a £2.8bn takeover.

Whittaker, the 76-year- old chairman of property investment firm Peel Group, has seen the value of his 29.29pc stake fall by around £580m to £425m since the start of 2018.

Chairman John Strachan said: ‘Intu has had a challenging year with a difficult retail and uncertain economic environment.’

In July, Fischel revealed he would step down from the company. Seven months later, a replacement has still not been found. Intu said it will update investors but refused to give a specific time scale.