Westfield-owner Unibail plans to cut U.S. exposure to close to 'zero' (updated)
10/02/2021 18:12
(Adds detail from statement, CEO call)
Feb 10 (Reuters) - The owner of London's Westfield shopping
centres said on Wednesday it would massively trim down its U.S.
presence and complete a remaining 3.2 billion euro-worth ($3.9
billion) of European asset disposals before the end of 2022.
Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield's (URW) URW.AS new management
team is looking to sell real estate to tackle long-term debt
problems amid the financial fallout of coronavirus lockdowns.
"At the end of the day, the exposure to the U.S. will be
minimal, if not zero," the group's new chief executive,
Jean-Marie Tritant, said in a call with journalists.
Tritant, who previously ran URW's U.S. business, took the
top job in January after a group of rebel investors won
shareholder support in a push for a more European focus.
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The United States accounted for 28% of the group's net
rental income from shopping centres in 2019 - the second-biggest
contributor after France.
The CEO said the company was "100% committed" to retaining
the two London Westfield malls, considering them its best assets
in Europe and among the top globally.
Unibail, which had gross financial debt of 26.4 billion
euros at the end of December, has been selling prime assets and
taking out more long-term debt as it seeks to refinance its
upcoming maturities.
With COVID-19 restrictions in place across almost all its
markets, Tritant said he had "realistic expectations" for 2021
but was encouraged by the recovery of footfall and sales
whenever restrictions eased last year.
URW - which also owns Forum des Halles in Paris and Madrid's
La Vaguada - did not give earnings guidance for 2021, due to
COVID-19 uncertainties, but suspended its dividend payments for
2020, 2021 and 2022.
The commercial real estate company posted 2020 recurring net
profit of 1.06 billion euros, down 40%, as a year of on-and-off
store closures under lockdowns had a knock-on effect for mall
owners due rent.
($1 = 0.8243 euros)
(Reporting by Sarah Morland in Gdansk; Editing by Pravin Char)
((sarah.morland@thomsonreuters.com; +48 58 769 65 92;))