* Landlord's half-year loss widens to 338.5 million pounds
* CEO says demand for space increasing as lockdowns ease
* Wholly-owned portfolio value down 10.1% to 2.8 bln pounds
(Adds CEO comments, background)
By Aby Jose Koilparambil
May 25 (Reuters) - The boss of British commercial property
firm Shaftesbury said on Tuesday that independent, small
tenants had been more resilient than multinationals and big
chains in the retail and hospitality sectors during the COVID-19
pandemic.
The trust that invests in London reported a half-year loss
after tax of 338.5 million pounds ($480 million), the first time
since 2009 it has posted two consecutive losses for the six
months ending in March, which includes the peak festive season
for non-essential retailers.
Commercial property firms heavily exposed to non-essential
retailers and hospitality firms are among the worst hit in
Britain's real estate sector, with steep valuation deficits,
reduced footfall and dwindling rental income.
"The big chains of retail and restaurants have been the ones
that have been shedding space, because quite frankly in the good
times they took too much of it," Chief Executive Officer Brian
Bickell told Reuters.
He said independent businesses, which made up most of
Shaftesbury's tenant base, were more determined to come back and
were more resilient than multinationals and big chains, which
"just shed spaces whenever they want".
The trust, which owns 600 buildings in the city's West End,
said its EPRA net tangible assets - a measure of the value of
its buildings per share - plunged 21.5% to 5.83 pounds while the
valuation of its wholly-owned portfolio fell 10.1% to 2.8
billion pounds.
Last week, pubs and restaurants reopened their indoor areas
and cinemas and hotels resumed operations after non-essential
retail premises opened their doors in mid-April - all as a part
of the government's phased exit from pandemic restrictions.
"Since the start of the reopening on April 12, we are seeing
an encouraging increase in demand for space and lettings and a
return of footfall and spending across our locations," Bickell
said in a statement.
($1 = 0.7054 pounds)
(Reporting by Aby Jose Koilparambil in Bengaluru; Editing by
Sherry Jacob-Phillips and David Clarke)
