Lar España Real Estate has lined up its ducks ready for a growth push, having trod water successfully through the COVID-19 pandemic. The group has made significant headway in improving the environmental, social and governance (ESG) credentials of its more than €1.4bn shopping centre and retail park portfolio, so much so that it was able to refinance its borrowings through the issue of two ‘green’ bonds worth €700m, substantially lowering its cost of debt while increasing its maturity. It has also sold a non-core portfolio at a premium to book value and is now looking to sell further assets and recycle the capital into net asset value (NAV) and earnings accretive investments. The value of Lar España’s portfolio fell just 0.4% in the first half of 2021 and the manager is confident of valuation uplifts in the near-term as the investment market returns to normal. The dominant nature of the group’s assets is reflected in the recovery of sales and footfall across its centres, which are 100% and around 90% of 2019 levels.
