Shopping mall owner General Growth Properties said on Monday it received an interim debt extension on $58 million in notes related to one of its operating units, giving the company another slight reprieve as it tries to restructure its debt.

The agreement with a noteholder for its unit known as The Rouse Company LP (TRCLP), extends the maturity date of those notes to Dec. 11, 2008, the company said in a statement on Monday. The due date was previously Dec. 1.

The Rouse Company was bought by General Growth for $7.2 billion in 2004, and runs high-end shopping malls like Boston’s Fanueil Hall, Baltimore’s The Gallery at Harborplace and New York’s South Street Seaport. General Growth assumed $5.2 billion of the company’s debt as part of the deal.

Earlier this month, General Growth — the No. 2 mall owner in the United States — confirmed it had hired Chicago law firm Sidley Austin as bankruptcy counsel, as it negotiates with its lenders.

The sagging U.S. economy and global credit crunch has hurt mall owners this year, as they rely heavily on debt to finance mall purchases and improvements, and weaker business conditions have put a strain on rental income from tenants.

The extension comes on top of extensions it has received from other lenders. Last week General Growth said it had won a two-week extension on the maturity of $900 million in mortgage loans related to two Las Vegas shopping centers, Fashion Show mall and Shoppes at the Palazzo.

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Negotiations to restructure the debt of media mogul Sumner Redstone’s National Amusements Inc are moving slowly and a deal looks increasingly unlikely this year, the Wall Street Journal said, citing people familiar with the situation.

National Amusements, which owns controlling stakes in CBS Corp and Viacom Inc faces a deadline to repay some $800 million in debt by the end of the year. It has a total of about $1.6 billion in debt outstanding.

But discussions to restructure the debt have a long way to go and that date could be extended, the paper said citing people familiar with the situation.

At the core of the discussion is a debate about which assets National Amusements will have to sell to pare its towering debt, the paper said.

The discussion is currently focused on the sale of some of the Redstone family’s movie theaters and a stake in WMS Industries Inc, which sells slot machines, the paper said.

On Monday, National Amusements sold its stake of around 87.2 percent in Midway Games Inc to investor Mark Thomas to ease the debt load.

National Amusements had already sold about $230 million of shares of CBS Corp and Viacom to help meet debt payments, and has been in talks with banks in hopes of avoiding a debt crunch.

Earlier in November, Redstone has said he doesn’t want to sell any more stock in Viacom Inc or CBS Corp, the media companies he controls.

National Amusements could not be immediately reached for a comment by Reuters.

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Bargain-hunting holiday shoppers did not save U.S. retail sales in November, which will likely represent a second straight month of declines for the industry.

Sales during last week’s Black Friday, the traditional kickoff of the holiday shopping season, were better than many analysts expected. But the growth likely came at the expense of margins as stores cut prices aggressively.

That means investors will look not only for December sales forecasts when retailers report November sales this week, but also for comments on margins and earnings.

“They are just going to have to suck it up and take a hit on the margin side this season,” said Ken Perkins, president of Retail Metrics.

Perkins has forecast a 1.7 percent decline in November sales at stores open at least a year. But with the job market continuing to weaken, retailers that succeed will have to continue to offer the best discounts.

“It seems like everything is about price point right now. If you weren’t on sale, you’re probably not selling right now,” Perkins said.

Analysts on average expect a 2.5 percent decline in November same-store sales, according to Thomson Reuters data. That would be the biggest drop since Thomson Reuters began collecting same-store sales data in 2000.

Excluding Wal-Mart Stores Inc, which has been the big winner as shoppers look to save money, the decline is 7.1 percent.

Thomson Reuters said on Nov. 6 its October same-store sales index fell 0.7 percent, worse than its estimate for a 0.3 percent drop.

A DUD NOVEMBER

For most of November, consumers cut spending sharply as access to credit tightened, home values fell and costs remained high for essentials like food.

“The remainder of the month was largely a dud as the credit crunch continues to stifle consumer spending,” Oppenheimer analyst Robert Samuels said in a research note.

The timing of the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday, which fell later in the month this year, also hurt sales, analysts said. Mild weather cut into sales of winter apparel.

“Even in normal circumstances, the loss of a week of post-Thanksgiving sales would have resulted in a weak November,” Brean Murray, Carret & Co analyst Eric Beder said in a research note.

“When the current economic malaise and slightly warmer weather are added to the mix, the potential for any positive results becomes remote.”

But Beder also said that investor expectations for retailers have reached a low, giving the sector a chance to bounce back in December. The Standard & Poor’s retail index is down about 20 percent since the end of October.

Among retailers, Wal-Mart’s steady focus on offering low prices will keep it ahead of rivals, analysts said. The world’s largest retailer had been aggressively promoting toys and food in the weeks leading up to Black Friday.

Analysts on average forecast a 2 percent increase in same-store sales for the discounter, one of the few retailers expected to show a rise in November, according to Thomson Reuters.

Rival Target Corp is expected to post a 9.1 percent decline. Target had forecast a decline of 6 percent to 9 percent, with half the decline due to the later Thanksgiving.

Overall, department stores like Kohl’s and J.C. Penney are expected to post an overall 14.5 percent decline. Apparel retailers’ same-store sales are expected to drop 11.6 percent and teen and children’s apparel is forecast to fall 12.3 percent.

Source: http://www.afxnews.com