Barclays boosts its Hammerson stake

Barclays has increased its interest in Hammerson. The bank has raised its holding from 5% of its voting rights to 6%, according to a filing on company news website Investegate. Barclays has also increased the proportion of its interest that it holds directly rather than via financial instruments. Its directly held stake has risen from 0.07% to 0.12%, with the rest held via derivatives. Earlier this month, a Barclays analyst accused Hammerson of understating its true debt position through creative accounting, according to The Times. The analyst, Paul May, said the shopping centre owner had kept its headline loan-to-value (LTV) at a lower level by accounting for its retail outlets in a more flattering way, adding them to its balance sheet in one go, rather than adding the assets and debts separately. Hammerson said its accounting was transparent and it disclosed its LTV using both calculations. To send feedback, e-mail anna.ward@egi.co.uk or tweet @annaroxelana or @estatesgazette