SHOPPINNG centre group Centro has been walloped by the slumping...

SHOPPINNG centre group Centro has been walloped by the slumping US retail sector, with its US arm posting a quarterly loss of nearly $US300 million ($A344.5 million).

The loss was mainly driven by writeoffs of real estate and other assets.

Centro NP LLC told the US Securities and Investments Commission it had taken a $US95 million impairment on real estate assets and written off another $173 million in "goodwill and other intangibles."

In notes to the filing, Centro NP said there was "substantial doubt" that it could continue as a going concern "given that the company's liquidity is subject to . . . its ability to negotiate extensions of credit facilities".

The US loss will flow through to the parent company in Australia.

But a Centro spokesman said that the different accounting rules applying in the US meant the ultimate effect on the parent company could not be quickly determined.

"Our accounting standards are substantially different," he said.

"We will give figures when Centro and Centro Retail Trust report their full year results next Friday."

Exactly how the loss is to be allocated among companies in the group is also not clear.

Centro NP is a joint venture between Centro, Centro Retail Trust and one of the group's investment syndicates, MCS 40.

Centro has until September 30 to pay a first instalment of $2.3 billion to its creditors.

If it can meet the deadline, the company will then have to pay another $4 billion by December 15 -- almost a year from the date the company admitted to being in trouble with its bankers.

Centro stock closed yesterday down 2 per cent at 23.5.
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Ben Butler

August 21, 2008 12:00am