Capital Shopping Centres sees drop in footfall and tenants
Capital Shopping Centres has reported a 2% drop in footfall at its shopping malls in the year to date.
However, the company said it was outperforming the national average when compared to a decrease in UK footfall of 3% as reported by Experian.
Occupancy across CSC’s shopping centres is now 94.35%, down 2.4% from the end of 2011 due to post Christmas tenant administrations and expiry of seasonal lettings. The company said 3% of its rentals, a total of 75 units, entered administration in the first quarter of 2012.
CSC, which owns 10 of the top 25 UK shopping malls, said retailer demand for larger spaces for flagship stores in the highest footfall locations remained strong, given the very limited shopping centre construction pipeline in the UK.
“While the UK retail environment remains tough, we continue to benefit from last year’s transformational Trafford Centre acquisition as we focus on securing the right retailers in the right places paying the right rents with the objective of achieving strong total returns from our assets,” said chief executive David Fischel.
