Simon Property Group Slashes Dividend as Coronavirus Crushes Malls

Over the past few months, virtually every major mall REIT in the U.S. has reduced or suspended its dividend payments. While the long-term impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on malls remains uncertain, the short-term impact has been devastating, giving mall owners no choice but to reduce their shareholder payouts.

Simon Property Group (NYSE: SPG) was one of the last holdouts. However, on Monday, the largest U.S. mall REIT bowed to the inevitable, announcing a 38% temporary reduction to its dividend.

With the pandemic spiraling out of control, Simon closed all of its properties in the U.S. on March 18. While it initially hoped to begin reopening them before the end of March, all of its malls remained closed through the end of April. Since the beginning of May, Simon has been able to gradually bring most of its properties back on line. Today, 199 of its 204 U.S. retail properties are open.

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Source Fool.com