The Retail Apocalypse Isn’t Over Yet
Struggling British mall owner Intu canceled plans to raise equity, leaving it few choices for salvaging a business ravaged by online retail.
Intu shopping centers need more than sprucing up.
Photographer: Darren Staples/BloombergIntu Properties Plc is in an almighty pickle. The owner of the Lakeside and Trafford Centre shopping malls said on Wednesday that it had been unable to raise between 1 billion pounds ($1.3 billion) and 1.5 billion pounds of equity.
That’s not surprising. Even before the outbreak of the new coronavirus, tapping shareholders looked like a long shot. Intu has 4.5 billion pounds of net debt, representing a whopping 68% of the market value of its properties. Despite the value of its estate plunging by 2 billion pounds, more pain on high streets and in malls looks likely. As my colleague Chris Bryant has argued, Intu left it far too late to raise equity.