Helical continues to claw back rent

Helical is continuing to claw back rent due and is bracing itself for an “ongoing period of weak economic activity”. The company said it has collected 84% of September rents and expects this to rise to 90%-96% by the end of December. It has collected 91% of rent from the June quarter, granting rent holidays (mainly to F&B tenants) for 4.6% of outstanding payments. For the March quarter, 94.7% of rent has been paid by tenants, with 2.4% of payments on rent holidays (mainly to F&B tenants). At 30 September, the company had drawn £360m of its £531m investment facilities, and had £49m of cash available to deploy. Helical chief executive Gerald Kaye said: “As the government attempts to navigate a delicate course between protecting the health of the population and providing support for UK businesses and the wider economy, we have been working with our tenants to guide them through this painful and disruptive period. “Frustratingly, we are now on course for an ongoing period of weak economic activity with the country unlikely to emerge from this crisis before 2021.”   To send feedback, e-mail lucy.alderson@egi.co.uk or tweet @LucyAJourno or @estatesgazette