Troubled property group Intu Properties PLC (LON:INTU) has confirmed it is considering an emergency cash injection, said to be as much as £1bn.
The owner of the Trafford Centre in Manchester and Lakeside in Essex has been badly affected by the retail crisis on the High Street and reports at the weekend said it was looking for additional shareholder cash to shore up its finances.
“Consistent with previous announcements, this now includes targeting an equity raise alongside its full-year results at the end of February,” it said today.
The group was making progress with plans to ‘fix its balance sheet’, the statement added.
Disposals have been part of this process and in December, Intu exchanged contracts on the sale of Puerto Venecia in Spain for €475mln.
New chief executive Matthew Roberts, added that Christmas had been a busy period with footfall up 0.3% on a year earlier and flat in the UK.
“Occupancy was stable at 95% and to date 97% of rent has been collected for the first quarter of 2020."