Hammerson - a closer look at its properties

In this newsletter I estimate Hammerson's Net Current Asset Value, NCAV, and look in more detail at the largest component of that value, its property. Of course, I'm assumimg that it is okay in the context of a property company to treat real estate as a current asset.
Hammerson's share price has fallen to 22p giving a market capitalisation of £1.01bn.....
....Investments in Associates – valued at £1.33bn
The two associates still within the Group are Value Retail PLC and a 25% interest in Italie Deux, Paris where Hammerson is the asset manager. Value Retail has nine “Villages” near major European cities. They are shown separately in the table below....
...

Hammerson considered selling its stake in Value Retail in 2019, but decided to raise cash by parting with other assets instead. The rumoured price being asked was £1.9bn – almost double Hammerson’s MCap today, and more than its net debt.
Value Retail coped well with the Covid-19 period: “The restrictions imposed in the early part of 2021 saw the temporary closure of all but one of the Villages and impacted income in the first half of the year due to prevalence of turnover rents. However, during this period, brands continued to take space in the Villages with 120 leases signed, demonstrating the continued popularity of the premium outlets sector…Overall, Value Retail signed 288 new leases in 2021, and occupancy remained strong at 96%. Domestic customers continued to remain loyal to the Villages with footfall of 26.9 million which was 23% above 2020 levels and 30% down on 2019 footfall. Brand sales saw recovery with €2.3 billion, 32% above 2020 levels…At 31 December 2021, the Group’s interest in Value Retail’s property portfolio was just under £1.9 billion and the net assets were £1.1 billion. The variance is principally due to the amount of secured debt within the Villages, with the average LTV across the Villages being 41%.” (2021 Report)
In early 2022 footfall almost reached 2019 levels and spend per visit was 7% above 2019 levels: “Occupier demand for space remains high, with 178 leases signed, occupancy at 94% and collection rates at 100%. Income was further underpinned by inflation-linked clauses in the base rents for the majority of Villages. Overall, this resulted in a year-on-year increase in gross rental income of £32m at our share, which combined with good operational and financial cost discipline led to adjusted earnings of £14m, compared with a loss of £2m for the first half of 2021.” (Interim Report 2022)
Rental levels for Value Retail are phenomenal, averaging £1,700 m2 (range £700 to £4,100) compared with Hammerson’s UK JVs flagships, e.g. Bullring, averaging £328 (range £177 - £587); French JV flagships average £427 (range £362 - £551) and Ireland JV flagships average £436 (range £342 - £492)
Those properties owned outright by Hammerson (part of “Investment Properties” in the balance sheet).....