North America
In the U.S.:
- Although China has increased its US good purchases, it is still not expected to meet its purchase commitments for 2020.
- This was not surprising given the big gap between Democrats and the White House over the size and scope of the package.
- The drop continued the push the theme that the recovery may be decelerating.
REIT Focus:
Service Properties Trust (SVC) announced that it will transfer the branding and management of 103 hotels to Sonesta International Hotels Corporation from InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG). The move comes after IHG failed to make its scheduled rent payments for July and August.
In China:
In Japan:
- Abe will reportedly stay in office until a successor is named.
- This was the first decline in three months and marked a turning point as underlying inflation turned negative for the first time since July 2017.
REIT Focus:
CK Asset Holdings Limited announced a 27% cut to its 1H 2020 dividend. The cut was directly attributed to the Covid-19 headwinds, in which the company said it is taking a conservative approach.
Europe
In Europe:
- The subsidies, originally intended for 12 months, cover the bulk of paychecks for employees who can’t work.
- as EU chief negotiator Barnier and his British counterpart Frost are slated to hold emergency talks next week in an effort to save the negotiations.
REIT Focus:
Pan European and US shopping center owner Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield (URW) has been looking to improve its balance sheet and reduce leverage so that it may be in a better position to withstand the challenging macroeconomic and retail environment. URW indicated with its recent half year results presentation that it would like to dispose of approximately €4 bn of assets over the next few years, of which approximately 50% will be retail assets and the balance mostly office. Approximately 7% of its €60 bn portfolio GAV are office assets. This week new reports indicated that it may be close to agreeing to a sale of SHiFt, a 500,000 sf campus located outside of Paris in Issy-les-Moulineaux that was a major refurbishment project completed by URW and is currently occupied by Nestlé. Price indications are in the €600 mn plus range with an initial yield close to 3.75%. While retail assets and multi-tenant office assets may be more challenging to sell in the current environment, well let office assets with long lease duration to good credits are still attracting investor interest in the search for yield by investors.
The views expressed in this update are as of the date of this blog entry. These views and any portfolio holdings discussed in the update are subject to change at any time based on market or other conditions. The adviser disclaims any duty to update these views, which may not be relied upon as investment advice. In addition, references to specific companies’ securities should not be regarded as investment recommendations or indicative of the Adelante products, strategies, or portfolios.