Last checked at 
* Considering equity raising to fix balance sheet
* Expects 2019 comparable net rental income to fall 9%
* Says CVAs "slightly" worse than expected
* Stock falls nearly 18%, hitting others in sector
(Recasts, adds details on cash call, debt, CEO comments)
By Samantha Machado and Pushkala Aripaka
Nov 6 (Reuters) - British shopping centre operator Intu
Properties said on Wednesday it could raise equity,
alongside asset sales, to tackle its debt burden, knocking
nearly 18% off its share price.
"Our number one priority is to fix the balance sheet ...
options include disposing of assets, where we are in the
advanced stages of selling two of our Spanish assets, through to
raising equity," Matthew Roberts, Intu's chief executive, said.
Intu shares were down 14% at 0941 GMT after the owner of
Manchester's Trafford Centre also said it expects annual
like-for-like net rental income to be down by about 9% and
predicted another decline in 2020, although at a slower rate.
Shares in other British property groups, including Hammerson
Plc, British Land and Land Securities
, also weakend on the third quarter trading update from
Intu, which has 20 shopping centres in Britain and Spain.
Many retailers are closing stores to cut costs and focus on
online sales in a tough British economic environment, with
Mothercare shutting all its British stores.
"We continue to consider all options to put us in the best
position to deal with both our short and medium term liquidity
requirements as we approach our next material debt maturity in
early 2021," Roberts said in a statement.
Intu, which had net debt of 4.8 billion pounds ($6.18
billion) at the end of 2018, adopted a new five-year strategy in
July to reshape its business and mend its balance sheet.
It said it had cut net external debt by 210 million pounds
in the quarter ended Sept. 30 by selling half its interest in
its Derby shopping centre for $243 million.
Before Wednesday's announcement, Intu's combined credit
score - which measures how likely a company is to default in the
next year on a scale of 100 (very unlikely) to 1 (highly likely)
- was "2", Refinitiv Eikon data showed.
Last year British billionaire John Whittaker and Hammerson
dropped two separate bids for Intu, but there has been renewed
media speculation of a takeover, with some suggestion of private
equity interest in the shopping centre operator.
Intu said more than half the reduction in net rental income
is expected from the impact of company voluntary agreements
(CVA), including those of retailers Arcadia and Monsoon, which
are used to restructure leases.
($1 = 0.7763 pounds)
(Reporting by Samantha Machado and Pushkala Aripaka in
Bengaluru and writing by Noor Zainab Hussain; Editing by
Saumyadeb Chakrabarty and Alexander Smith)
