Capital Shopping shuns acquisitions in move to make more cash from malls
CAPITAL Shopping Centres (CSC), the UK’s largest mall owner, will squeeze organic revenue and profit growth from its portfolio of prime assets in 2011, ahead of chasing more blue-chip mall acquisitions.
Chief executive David Fischel said yesterday CSC’s main focus this year was to drive growth in like-for-like rental income, and enhance and extend existing assets.
CSC also needs to integrate its newly-acquired Trafford Centre in Manchester.
The £863m buy was opposed by US mall owner and CSC shareholder Simon Property , which dropped a bid for CSC in January.
The company, which owns 14 prime UK malls, booked net asset value (NAV) per share of 390p for the year to the end of December, up from 339p a year earlier.
It has identified 1.4m square feet of extension opportunities at its existing properties, offering better returns than a new development, it said yesterday.
Including the Trafford Centre, CSC has about 15.5m square feet of retail floor space.
Full-year net rental income from continuing operations was £277m, from £267m in 2009.
Panmure analysts said in a note: “We remain happy with our 2011 estimated NAV forecast of 400p and continue to believe this looks a fair level for the shares to trade at.”