Hammerson, the UK-based company that owns premium retail assets in Europe, has successfully launched and priced a £400m (R9.1bn) bond.
The group said in a statement the bond had a maturity of 12 years and paid a coupon of 5.875%. It will be issued on October 8, subject to final legal documentation and customary closing conditions.
At its peak, the order book was in excess of £2.6bn, the group said in a statement on Thursday.
The proceeds of the new bonds will be used to support the company’s growth strategy and refinance its outstanding £300m 6% bonds due 2026, its £300m 7.25% bonds due 2028 and its £350m 3.5% bonds due 2025.
“We are delighted with the strong demand for our 12-year £400m bond which wasseven times oversubscribed at the peak. Investors recognise that this is an exciting new era for Hammerson, focused on accelerating growth while maintaining our operational grip and financial discipline,” CFO Himanshu Raja said.
The new bonds have been issued under Hammerson’s newly established euro medium-term notes programme, it said.
In July, the group said it had managed to cut costs by 16% in the first half of 2024 and completed its £500m disposals programme, realigning its core portfolio to leading city centre destinations.
The group reported adjusted earnings of £50m for the six months ended June from £56m a year ago, the decline reflecting the effect of disposals.
Adjusted earnings per share (EPS) were 1.0p from 1.1p before. Its loss for the period (International Financial Reporting Standards) of £517m, compared with a loss of £1m a year ago, predominantly reflected the impairment of its investment in Value Retail, from a carrying value of £1.1bn.
An interim dividend of 0.756p per share was declared, up 5% year on year.
The group also announced in July that it would dispose of its entire interest in Value Retail for an enterprise value of £1.5bn, generating cash proceeds of about £600m.
The company intends to use the proceeds for a combination of immediate significant deleveraging, reinvestment into higher-yielding assets and a return of up to £140m to shareholders via a share buy back.
CEO Rita-Rose Gagné said at the time that the group was realising the benefits of its investments in recent years and with the agreed disposal of Value Retail, it now had the capacity and capability to accelerate growth and value creation.
She said the group’s leading city centre destinations are in high demand, as evidenced by another year on-year increase in leasing, up 24%. This is driving top-line growth with more to come.
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