Fear for the future of intu shopping centre

THE company which owns intu Uxbridge shopping centre warns it expects to miss a deadline its current debts as its centres struggle during the coronavirus pandemic.

The intu group, which also runs the Lakeside complex in Essex and the Harlequin Shopping Centre in Watford, revealed it could collapse before lockdown was introduced in March 2020 unless it received extra funds.

This came as the company reported a loss of £2 billion in 2019 and was struggling to fill empty units in shopping centres.

And the situation became worse when lockdown was brought in. Sites still remain closed, except for essential stores and intu fears the speed of the market recovery after lockdown remains unclear. Shares in the company have fallen lower as it said talks with its lenders over its finances are continuing. Earlier in May, intu secured debt waivers until June 26 but said it still expects to breach its debt commitments by this deadline amid falling rental payments.

The company said it will standstill agreements with creditors to ride out the current crisis.

Such a deal would allow intu to halt testing and repayments of its debt facilities until no later than December 2021, it said.

intu is one of a number of shopping centre owners, such as Hammerson and British Land, to have been hard hit by the crisis.

The retail landlord said the crisis heavily impacted its ability to secure rent payments in March, with some retailers choosing not to pay rents. Some retailers have also collapsed into administration or confirmed that they will permanently shut stores in the aftermath of the crisis.

Intu was already under financial pressure as the coronavirus pandemic escalated this year, selling properties in the UK and Spain in recent years to help prop up its finances.

Shares in Intu were down 0.35% to 4.3p in early trading on Monday.