But developer sees rental income rise

Aerial view of how Brent Cross Shopping Centre will look

Aerial view of how Brent Cross Shopping Centre would look following its redevelopment

Specialist retail developer Hammerson has seen its pre-tax profit drop by over £400m from £732m for 2015 down to £323m for 2016.

The firm attributed this to lower revaluation gains on the firm’s shopping centres and retail parks.

Adjusted profits after the removal of property valuations actually rose 9.5% to £231m for the year ended 31 December 2016 up from £211m for the previous year.

Hammerson also recorded a 6.4% increase in its gross rental income to £251m for the year, up from £236m.

The firm’s development pipeline has three major projects in London including the 175,000sq m extension to Brent Cross which Hammerson estimates still has a development cost of between £475-550 million and for which a planning application is expected to be submitted in this spring.

Hammerson has also submitted a revised planning application for its redevelopment of the Whitgift Centre in Croydon in joint venture with Westfield with a decision expected in the summer.

And the firm, in joint venture with Ballymore Properties, is also in the process of amending its PLP-designed scheme for Bishopsgate Goodsyard.

Hammerson is aiming to resubmit a planning application later this year after the GLA’s planning officers’ recommendation to refuse the application and former London mayor Boris Johnson passed on the scheme to his successor Sadiq Khan in May last year who agreed to defer the application to allow further consultation and redesign on the scheme.

Topics