Covent Garden owner Capco reports strong rental demand as West End gears up for its £3.5bn merger with Shaftesbury
Trading conditions across the Covent Garden estate have been positive, in particular a successful Christmas trading period with like-for-like customer sales in aggregate exceeding pre-pandemic levels.
Ian Hawksworth, chief executive of Covent Garden estate owner Capco, said: “There is continued momentum at Covent Garden with robust trading conditions, in particular a successful Christmas period,” said
Capco announced today it had secured 71 leases in the West End for a total £10m, 13 per cent higher than the previous year.
Of those, 46 were signed in the second half of the year – up five per cent on 2021 levels.
“Strong leasing demand for our prime properties in the West End continues to deliver rental growth, however an outward shift in yields resulted in an unchanged valuation for Covent Garden over the year,” Hawksworth added.
Covent Garden’s valuation – which has remained at around £1.7bn since 2021 – was offset by higher interest rates and inflationary pressures.
Estimated rental value went up six per cent to £81m, while Capco maintains liquidity of £423m.
“Backed by our strong balance sheet, long-term strategy and creative approach we look ahead with confidence in the prospects and resilience of Covent Garden and the West End.”
Upcoming openings in the area include a new jewellery concept store called Mejury, as well as the opening of perfume multinational Creed and that of Uniqlo, which will open its new flagship store this spring.
Capco made the headlines last year when it announced a £3.5bn merger with rival Shaftesbury to bring together the vast majority of the West End under a new company called Shaftesbury Capital.
The consultancy firm said today the merger with Shaftesbury will be completed in the first quarter of 2023, subject to clearance by the competition watchdog, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).