17 December 2020
CAPITAL & REGIONAL PLC ("Capital & Regional" or "the Company" or "the Group")
UK company number 01399411
LSE share code: CAL
ISIN: GB00BL6XZ716
LEI: 21380097W74N9OYF5Z25
UPDATE ON TRADING AND RENT RECEIPTS
Capital & Regional today provides an update on trading and rent collections.
Lawrence Hutchings, CEO of Capital & Regional said: "2020 has been a year like no other with COVID-19 presenting significant challenges to everyday life and business. While some form of Government restrictions are likely to continue to be a feature for a period of time it has been encouraging to see the swift return of nearly all our retailers and services to trading following the end of the second national lockdown on 2 December 2020 with 98% of units back open, reinforcing the importance of our community centres. The retail sector continues to evolve at pace with COVID-19 having accelerated pre-existing structural changes. We believe we are well placed given our low exposure to the categories most impacted. Demand for retailers to rapidly return to trade, coupled with a similar response from our consumers who have been eager to get back to their local shops, provide evidence of the continuing relevance of physical retail and the vital role that our community focused centres play in local essential infrastructure. This is evidenced by our completion of more than 30 leasing transactions this year and an encouraging pipeline with over 20 deals where we have agreed heads of terms or which are in solicitors' hands. These transactions are enabling us to continue the significant progress we have made in remerchandising and repositioning of our centres which started three years ago.
"I would also like to place on record my thanks to our staff, and particularly our shopping centre teams, whose hard work and dedication has ensured our centres remained open throughout the year enabling the provision of essential goods and services to their local communities."
Operations
Liquidity
Our overriding priority remains the health, safety and protection of our colleagues, guests and customers and throughout the pandemic we have been implementing the latest official government guidelines and advice across our portfolio.
Further details will be provided when the Group announces its results for the year ended 30 December 2020, on Thursday 4 March 2021.
1 For lettings and renewals (excluding development deals and CVA variations) with a term of 5 years or longer which do not include turnover rent or service charge restrictions.
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For further information:
Capital & Regional plc 020 7932 8000
Lawrence Hutchings
Stuart Wetherly
FTI Consulting 020 3727 1000
Richard Sunderland
Claire Turvey
Methuselah Tanyanyiwa
About Capital & Regional plc:
Capital & Regional is a UK focused retail property REIT specialising in shopping centres that dominate their catchment, serving the non-discretionary and value orientated needs of the local communities. It has a strong track record of delivering value enhancing retail and leisure asset management opportunities across its portfolio of in-town shopping centres.
Capital & Regional owns seven shopping centres in Blackburn, Hemel Hempstead, Ilford, Luton, Maidstone, Walthamstow and Wood Green. Capital & Regional manages these assets through its in-house expert property and asset management platform.
Capital & Regional is listed on the main market of the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and has a secondary listing on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE)
For further information see capreg.com/