Spanish retail landlord Lar España reported solid half year results for the six months to 30 June 2023, with revenue up 16.4% to €48.9m.
Sales and footfall from its shopping centres and retail parks continue to grow, with sales reaching €505.1m (7.5% up on the same period in 2022 and 16.1% up on pre-COVID 2019 period). Its assets were visited 39.5 million times during the first six months of the year (up 3.7% on 2022, but slightly down on 2019).
Leasing activity was strong during the period, with 100 lease events completed (eight new lettings, 22 re-lettings and 70 lease renewals) with a combined 7.7% uplift on previous rents.
The value of its portfolio dropped slightly by 0.5% to €1,465.3m, contributing to an EPRA NTA of €10.76 per share (down 1.6%). This compares favourably with its European peers, which had an average asset valuation fall of 3.0% and an EPRA NTA fall of 5.6%.
Lar España’s valuations were backed up by the sale of two retail park assets – Rivas Futura and Vistahermosa – for a combined €129.1m, at an exit yield of 6.3%. These were non-core assets where the company had completed its asset management plans. The sales price was 24% above the price they paid for them in 2018 and 2016 respectively.
The company has €558.2m of debt (an LTV of 38.1%) with a very low average cost of 1.8% and an average debt maturity of 4.3 years.
Chairman José Luis del Valle commented: “The stability of our last five asset valuations, fully confirmed in our asset rotation transactions, gives us an attractive and differential added value. If we add the constant improvement of our revenues and a robust long-term financial structure, we are in an excellent financial and business situation to reinforce our current sector leadership in accordance with the objectives we have set ourselves until 2025 in our current strategic plan.”
We published an initiation research note on Lar España in March. Click here to read.