British Land Share News (BLND)

(Sharecast News) - Real estate company British Land said on Wednesday that 64% of its stores in England are now open, with like-for-like retail sales in the week beginning 14 June 91% of the same week last year.
The company said 50% of its stores in Scotland and 64% of its stores in Wales are also now open. For the week beginning 14 June, which is when restrictions were eased on non-essential retail in England, footfall at its English assets was 64% of the level achieved in the same week last year.

As of 26 June, it had collected 88% of rent for its offices and 36% of its retail rent relating to the June quarter.

"We continue to engage with customers on a case by case basis," it said. For smaller, independent operators, namely in food & beverage and retail, it has agreed rental waivers of £3m for the June quarter in addition to £2m agreed for the March quarter, which was announced in its FY20 results.

"We are holding productive discussions with larger retail and leisure operators who have been disproportionately affected by lockdown," British Land said. These include moves to monthly rents, deferrals and partial settlement of March and June rents, typically in return for the removal of lease breaks, lease extensions, reduced incentives or commitments for additional space.

"This is an ongoing process and so we expect the collection rates for June to improve over the coming weeks."

British Land said it expects the best located, open air retail parks to perform an important role in retailers' reopening strategies, and that this was reflected in positive like-for-like sales for out-of-town stores open in England versus the same week last year.

Colm Lauder, real estate analyst at Goodbody, said: "The update is broadly positive, despite the headline rent collection performance for Q3 falling short of Q2. This disparity can likely be attributed to timing, and the prospects for collections to catch up throughout the course of Q3 are good, which could see the Q3 performance settle closer to Q2 - or even outperform.

"Looking ahead, we expect the open air retail offered by retail parks to recover the fastest as restrictions ease. British Land have reiterated this view and emphasised that they will play an important role in retailers' reopening strategies."