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Shopping centre owner Hammerson wrote down the value of its property portfolio to £6.3 billion in 2020 as the company posted the largest decline in net rental income in its history and disposed of some assets.
The company reported net rental income of £158 million in 2020, down 41% on a like-for-like basis excluding premium outlets, largely impacted by Covid-19 closures, tenant restructuring and higher provisions for bad debt and tenant incentives.
Its portfolio value fell from £8.3 billion in 2019 to £6.3 billion in 2020, while group capital return was negative 20.9%.
The group reported net proceeds from disposals totalling £328 million and said it will continue to 'target disposals'.
In 2021 to date, Hammerson has sold three minority stakes in Brent South Shopping Park, London, Espace Saint-Quentin and Nicetoile, Nice for a total of £73 million.
Chief executive Rita-Rose Gagne said: 'As our results show, Hammerson was hit hard. The retail sector, already in the grip of major structural change, has been significantly impacted by the restrictions imposed to tackle the pandemic, and we've also seen an increasing number of retail failures.
'Combined, this has resulted in the largest fall in net rental income and UK asset values in the group's history.'
Hammerson also announced that Pierre Bouchut, non-executive director and chair of the audit committee, will not stand for re-election at the 2021 AGM and said it has asked Mike Butterworth to succeed him as audit committee chair at the end of the meeting.
The company confirmed the appointment of Habib Annous as a non-executive director with effect from 5 May 2021.