British shopping centre giant Hammerson has taken a £500m loss on the £1.5bn deal to sell its share in the company behind Bicester Village.
The London-listed company reported a loss of £517m during the first half of its financial year, which it said was down to an “impairment of investment in Value Retail from a carrying value of £1.1bn”. Its loss per share was 10.4p.
Hammerson, however, downplayed the significance of the loss, insisting that its performance over the past six months had been “strong” and that the sale of Value Retail would allow it to accelerate growth.
The company also announced that it would pay an interim dividend of 0.756p per share for 2024, up five per cent from the previous year.
Rita-Rose Gagne, chief executive of Hammerson, said: “I am pleased to report we’ve had a strong first half. We are realising the benefits of our investments in recent years and with the agreed disposal of Value Retail, we now have the capacity and capability to accelerate growth and value creation.
“Our leading city centre destinations are in high demand, supported by our ongoing investment and repositioning.
“This is evidenced by another year-on-year increase in leasing, up 24 per cent. This is driving top line growth with more to come.
“At the same time, we have delivered another outperformance on costs, down 16 per cent year on year.
“In the first half, we also completed our £500m disposals programme, realigning our core portfolio to leading city centre destinations, whilst further strengthening the balance sheet. We now have a strong, scalable platform as we look to drive further operating leverage.
“I am excited by the opportunity ahead and confident we will continue to grow the top-line and earnings off our new base, reflected in the 5 per cent increase in the interim dividend.“