Irish and British retail landlord Hammerson sees some signs of recovery from Covid                 

Dundrum Shopping Centre in Dublin. Hammerson Group, which owns the centre, says it sees signs of economic recovery.

Retail landlord Hammerson which owns some of the largest shopping centres in Ireland, the UK, and France has said the Covid-19 fallout will be long lasting but sees signs of recovery. 

Stockmarket-listed Hammerson posted a loss of £376m (€440m) for the six months to the end of June that had narrowed from almost £1.1bn a year earlier, when the severe Covid restrictions were in place. 

It said its rent collection in the group in the second half of the year had improved to 71%. That includes the UK at a rate of 79%, Ireland at 65%, and a rate of 56% in France.  

"While volumes have improved, there continues to be a marked difference in the underlying strength of the leasing demand across the group with France and Ireland continuing to outperform the UK," it said.  

In Ireland, Hammerson owns half of Dundrum centre and half of the Swords Pavilions, and controls the Ilac Centre in Dublin city centre, as well as the nearby 1916 battlefield site, and has a significant minority stake in the Kildare Village. 

In the UK, it is best known as the owner of Brent Cross in London and Birmingham's Bullring, and also owns huge retail properties in France and Spain. 

Goodbody senior analyst Colm Lauder said there were some upbeat signs, while income and rent collections were likely to get better in the second part of the year. 

Its CEO Rita-Rose Gagné said she sees "a pathway to create sustainable value as we transform the business to become more agile and able to anticipate and respond to this change".