Our 2019 Interim Results have been announced. 

The full press release and presentation can be downloaded below and an on-demand version of the webcast presentation will be available here shortly.

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• 2.4 Announcement

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Capital & Regional (LSE: CAL), the UK focused REIT with a portfolio of dominant in-town community shopping centres, today announces its half year results to 30 June 2019.

Lawrence Hutchings, Chief Executive, comments:
“The business has again produced a robust set of operational results in what remains a challenging period for UK retail. We remain confident that with our Community Centre strategy, focussed on providing non-discretionary and needs based products and services, we are well placed to continue this trend and to evolve with the ongoing structural changes in the retail sector, as evidenced by our high occupancy, resilient income metrics and strong leasing performance.

We have been making solid progress to strengthen the balance sheet and provide additional liquidity given the fall in valuations, due primarily to the impact of CVAs and retailer administrations and market yield shift, which has increased net LTV to 52%. In August we conditionally exchanged on the sale of non-core land at Wood Green which is due to realise £5 million. We have also reached an advanced stage in the identification of a preferred development partner to fully fund and build out the c.450 apartment scheme at Walthamstow that was consented in the second half of 2018. This creates the potential to realise, subject to planning, a capital receipt of approximately £20 million during 2020 and has provided further confidence and read through to the residential opportunity at Ilford which we believe could be in excess of the 200 apartment scheme currently consented. Furthermore, we have agreed terms on a 12 month amendment to our Luton facility which provides greater headroom. This follows the previous amendments to our Hemel Hempstead and Group Revolving Credit Facilities earlier in the year to support ongoing capex projects.

The Board has also announced today that it is in discussions with Growthpoint Properties Limited (“Growthpoint”), the largest real estate investment trust primary listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, about Growthpoint acquiring a majority stake in the Company through a combination of a partial offer in cash for Capital & Regional shares and an injection of capital to support the Company’s strategy through a subscription for new Capital & Regional shares. As a consequence of this, the Board has decided to defer a decision on the level of the interim dividend until such process has concluded.”

Further information concerning the discussions with Growthpoint is set out in the Company’s separate announcement which was released today.

Highlights

Strong leasing momentum delivering robust performance against tough operating backdrop

• 44 new lettings and renewals in the period at a combined average premium of 31.2%² to previous passing rent and a 6.9%² premium to ERV
• Contracted rent robust at £61.1 million down 1.9% (June 2018: £62.3 million) with new letting activity partially offsetting impact of CVAs and administrations
• Net Rental Income (NRI) down £0.8 million or 3.1% to £25.2 million (June 2018: £26.0 million) due to CVAs and retailer restructurings, which impacted by approximately £1.1 million
• Adjusted Profit¹ down 4.5% to £14.8 million (June 2018: £15.5 million)
• IFRS Loss for the period of £55.4 million due primarily to a fall in property valuations (June 2018: Profit of £6.7 million), driven by negative sentiment towards retail assets and income impact of CVAs and retailer administrations, offsetting Adjusted Profit
• Continuing occupier demand reflected in high occupancy at 96.8% (30 June 2018: 96.9%)
• Footfall significantly outperformed the national index with our three London centres increasing by 0.6%. There were 37.2 million visits across the wider portfolio, reflecting a decline of 1.8%, substantially ahead of the national index, which was down by 3.6%.

Focus on maintaining balance sheet headroom

• Group cost of debt of 3.26% with average debt maturity of 5.9 years³
• Basic and EPRA NAV per share, at 51p and 52p respectively (December 2018: 60p and 59p respectively), impacted by fall in property valuations of our regional assets
• Net LTV increased to 52% (December 2018: 48%)
• £5 million sale of non-core land at Wood Green conditionally exchanged with proceeds anticipated in Q4 2019.
• Identification of preferred development partner at Walthamstow at advanced stage enabling potential for significant capital receipt in 2020
• Decision on level of Interim Dividend 2019 deferred until conclusion of discussions with Growthpoint Properties Limited

Use of Alternative Performance Measures (APMs)
Throughout the results statement we use a range of financial and non-financial measures to assess our performance. A number of the financial measures, including Adjusted Profit, Adjusted Earnings per share and the industry best practice EPRA (European Public Real Estate Association) performance measures are not defined under IFRS, so they are termed ‘Alternative Performance Measures’ (APMs). Management use these measures to monitor the Group’s financial performance alongside IFRS measures because they help illustrate the underlying performance and position of the Group. All APMs are defined in the Glossary and further detail on their use is provided within the Financial Review.

Notes

All metrics are for wholly-owned portfolio unless otherwise stated.
¹ Adjusted Profit and Adjusted Earnings per share are as defined in the Glossary. Adjusted Profit incorporates profits from operating activities and excludes revaluation of properties and financial instruments, gains or losses on disposal, exceptional items and other defined terms. A reconciliation to the equivalent EPRA and statutory measures is provided in Note 6 to the condensed financial statements.
² For lettings and renewals (excluding development deals) with a term of five years or longer and which did not include a turnover element or service charge restriction.
³ As at 30 June 2019, assuming exercise of all extension options.

Statement re Possible Partial Offer and Subscription for Shares
There can be no certainty that a partial offer and subscription for new Capital & Regional