Intu Properties (LON: INTU) has taken a £300 million hit to its property valuation in the most recent quarter.
The shopping centre chain revealed on Tuesday that the hard-hit retail sector and the collapse of House of Fraser and Coast have cut the rental income guidance.
David Fischel, the group’s chief executive, said: “Intu has continued to deliver a strong and resilient operational performance through a period which has been particularly challenging for UK retailers, demonstrating the clear differentiation between winning destinations such as Intu owns and the rest.”
“The top twenty shopping centres in the UK account for some three per cent of UK shoppers’ annual spend and we own eight of them, representing 76% by value of our UK portfolio.”
“We are however confident our business and assets are resilient and can weather the challenges we are currently seeing,” he added.
House of Fraser collapsed earlier this year and was soon rescued by Sports Direct (LON: SPD) boss Mike Ashley in a £90 million deal.
Women’s fashion retailer Coast fell into administration earlier this month after it took a hit from the House of Fraser collapse.
Intu Properties is considering a £2.9 billion takeover offer from a consortium including British billionaire John Whittaker, Saudi investment group Olayan, and Brookfield Property Group.
On rumours of the Whittaker deal, shares in Intu soared almost 30%.
The group said in a statement: “Intu confirms that it has not received an approach from the consortium. The board of Intu has formed an independent committee comprising all directors of Intu other than John Whittaker, who is connected to the consortium. The independent committee will consider any approach from the consortium, if made, and a further announcement will be made if and when appropriate.”