* Retail portfolio valuation plunges 18%
* Central London office take-up drops to record low
* Expects rents and capital value to fall further in London
(Adds details on the results, background, shares)
By Aakash B
Nov 11 (Reuters) - Property developer Great Portland Estates
on Wednesday reported an 18% plunge in the valuation of
its retail portfolio as coronavirus restrictions hit the
industry, and said office take-up in central London had dropped
to record lows.
The FTSE 250-listed company, which owns 2.6 billion pounds
($3.5 billion) worth of retail and office property in central
London, said it expects rents and capital values in the British
capital to fall further.
"The trajectory of COVID-19 continues to dominate the
economic backdrop and disrupt the activities of many of our
occupiers across London," the company said.
"Given this challenging economic and operational context, we
expect capital values and rental levels to decline as London's
property markets adjust to a global recession."
Shares were down 2% at 686 pence by 0819 GMT, taking
year-to-date losses to 20%.
Property owners and tenants have been working together to
ride out the coronavirus crisis, with the retail, hospitality
and leisure sectors hit the hardest in large urban centres.
Occupiers of retail properties are struggling with rents due
to a plunge in footfall during the virus curbs, while office
space providers are grappling with empty buildings and defaults
as companies adopt work-from-home policies.
Workspace Group, which owns and manages 4 million
square feet of business space in London, swung to a first-half
loss and pushed back a decision on dividends as more customers
vacated and downsized during the crisis.
Great Portland said it had collected just 83% of its rent
during the first half of the year, with 7.6 million pounds still
remaining unpaid as on Sept. 30.
The company said its net rental income in the six months to
Sept. 30 fell to 30.6 million pounds from 39.5 million pounds a
year earlier.
The central London-focused developer said however that a
scarcity of high-quality space had resulted in relative support
for prime rents and that it believed it was well-placed to
weather market volatility.
It also said demand for flexible, fitted spaces, which make
up 13% of its office portfolio, has seen accelerated demand due
to the COVID-19 pandemic.
($1 = 0.7528 pounds)
(Reporting by Aakash Jagadeesh Babu in Bengaluru; Editing by
Uttaresh.V and Jan Harvey)
