Major revamp for Hammerson

Hammerson, the property heavyweight, yesterday unveiled a sweeping overhaul that will see it offload £1.1 billion in assets and hand cash back to shareholders.

The owner of Aberdeen’s Union Square shopping and leisure complex made the announcement alongside its half-year results, where it outlined plans to exit the retail parks sector and instead focus on flagship retail destinations and premium outlets.

The group is targeting £1.1bn in disposals by the end of next year, having already offloaded £300 million this year and increased its overall 2018 target to £600m. It will also hand up to £300m back to investors through a share buyback programme.

The news came just 24 hours after Hammerson said it had exchanged contracts to sell both the Fife Central Retail Park in Kirkcaldy and Imperial Retail Park in Bristol in a combined £164m disposal.

Fife Central was acquired by Hammerson in 2005. It covers a total of 30,200 square metres, is 95 per cent let and anchored by B&Q, Sainsbury’s, M&S Simply Food and Next.

Meanwhile, the group yesterday outlined management changes that include cutting the number of executive directors from four to two.

Chief investment officer Peter Cole and executive director Jean-philippe Mouton will both step down from the board at the end of the year.

The firm reported an 80 per cent slide in pre-tax profits to £55.8m for the six months to the end of June. On an adjusted basis, profits nudged up just 0.5 per cent to £120m.

Chief executive David Atkins said: “Through increasing the level of disposals, including exiting the retail parks sector, we will now focus solely on winning destinations of the highest quality: flagship retail destinations and premium outlets.

“These are the venues we believe will maintain relevance and outperform.”