Good morning and welcome to Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield's Full-Year Results Presentation for 2021. While we continue to manage some ongoing effects of the COVID pandemic, 2021 was a year where we reached the peak of the crisis and then saw an accelerated improvement, generating positive business momentum into 2022 and beyond. Before we deep dive into our results, I would like to reiterate our invitation to join us virtually or in person for our Investor Day on March 30th at Westfield Mall of the Netherlands, where we share more on our strategy and vision for the business. In 2021, we delivered improved operating performance despite external challenges. Our tenant sales are now approaching pre-pandemic levels globally, while traffic levels are evolving positively despite some lingering COVID restrictions.
Our leasing strategy has been validated by a strong level of activity, improved occupancy, the revenue it has generated, and its protection of the long-term value of our assets. Looking at the renewed activity in H2 in the convention and exhibition business, combined with the performance of our retail destination, there is clear demand for in-person experiences, which we are confident will help deliver strong performance in 2022. The recovery truly kicked off in the second half, having formed the low in the first half of the year. One of the clear demonstrations of this was the convention exhibition business. Here, NOI was in negative territory in H1, but rallied to deliver close to EUR 57 million in the second half. Fabrice will go deeper into our full year performance, but I want to highlight the key second half metrics that give us confidence in the road ahead.
Group tenant sales in H2 stood at 93% versus the same period in 2019, the last pre-COVID year, a marked improvement from 62% in H1. We'll dive into this metric by region, where you will see the lagging effect in Europe as a result of delayed reopenings. The reality is we are close to pre-COVID levels. This performance translates into improved rent collection for retail at 92% in H2, versus 70% in H1, and higher sales-based rents with EUR 72 million in H2, versus EUR 34 million in H1 in retail and airports. Improved retailer confidence also drove higher leasing activity, contributing to our +190 basis points improvement in occupancy levels in H2 versus -60 basis points in H1.
Looking at the MGR for leases signed over 36 months, this is up 2.2% versus 1.3% in H1. While our full year financial performance reflects the tough external operating conditions that we saw in the first half, there are some positive trends to reflect on. Adjusted recurring earnings per share, our core metric for underlying performance, was up 4.7% when restated for disposals versus 2020. This was driven by resilient retail activity, successful deliveries like Westfield Mall of the Netherlands, and the recovery of convention and exhibition activity. In parallel, we have maintained our commitment to deleveraging with disposal delivering a EUR 1.6 billion reduction in net financial debt. This figure increases to EUR 2.2 billion on a pro forma basis for recent disposals.
As a result, we have delivered a 140 basis points improvement in our loan to value ratio, and will go further in 2022 as we make deleveraging progress. In 2021, we also maintain our deep-rooted commitment to ESG. We are focused on impactful strategies and actions that reflect the critical role our assets play in the environmental, economic and social vitality of the communities we serve. This impact is reflected in the strong, consistent ratings we receive, as well as in our actions like joining the Net Zero Initiative, whose ambition is to develop a collective framework for carbon neutrality. We are also proud to play our part in the fight against COVID-19, hosting vaccination centers at our assets that administered a cumulative 1.5 million COVID vaccinations.
We are committed to lead, evolve, and anticipate the changing needs of the environment we operate in, and we share more about this at the Investor Day. This commitment to our Better Places 2030 strategy has expanded our access to new financing vehicles, securing the largest sustainability-linked revolving credit facility for a REIT in Europe at EUR 3.1 billion. Our favorable access to credit markets and unparalleled liquidity underpins our de-leveraging strategy, and we made significant progress towards our goals in 2021. In Europe, we have now reached EUR 2.5 billion of our EUR 4 billion disposal target with the bulk of that number, EUR 1.6 billion, agreed to or completed in 2021. We are confident we'll achieve the EUR 4 billion target by the end of 2022, in line with our announced timeline.
In the U.S., we have continued to streamline our portfolio, generating half a billion euro debt reduction, while also making clear progress towards our goal to radically reduce our financial exposure in this market. We have maintained strict CapEx and cost control in line with targets, while continuing to deliver major projects like Westfield Mall of the Netherlands. Finally, we have signed exciting new joint venture partnerships to unlock attractive future returns while optimizing capital allocation, which Fabrice will provide more details on. Coming back to the U.S. We have done our homework and our internal strategy exercise is now complete. As you see from our results, our operations are back on track. We are also seeing early evidence of the retail real estate investment market reopening with the refinancing of high-quality assets through CMBS loans.
We are confident in the superior quality of our U.S. portfolio, which presents a strong fundamental opportunity for investors with 95% of the assets in the A category and 76% A+ rated. In 2022, as operating conditions continue to improve, there will be greater visibility on growth potential for A-rated malls and further differentiation from B and C malls. This will lead to better appreciation of our assets. We are positioned to execute and have determined a series of options, and then are confident in our ability to deliver a radical reduction of our exposure in the U.S. market over 2022 and 2023, optimizing net proceeds with the resulting positive effect on net debt.
Before we take a closer look at our operational performance, I wanted to start with some additional context on the impact of COVID restrictions as well as broader economic and consumer trends. In 2021, we faced 94 days of closure in Europe and zero in the U.S., which explains the lagging recovery in Europe. Beyond closures, our operations, sorry, across all geographies have been impacted to varying degrees of COVID restrictions, most recently with the emergence of the Omicron variant. Beyond COVID, our tenants, like other industries, are suffering from supply chain disruption as well as the great resignation. Global semiconductor shortages have shackled the production, impacting the supply of consumer goods that drive many of our retailers. Shipping times have risen dramatically over the past 12 months, and there have been labor shortages.
In France, for example, over 100,000 hospitality workers resigned during the first seven months of 2021, leading to some restaurants restricting their opening hours, something we experience across our geographies. We expect these pressures to subside in 2022, while the economy also benefits from positive trends such as lower unemployment, high level of household savings, leading to pent-up demand and robust global consumer confidence. Despite all these challenges, we saw a global recovery of tenant sales at our centers, reaching 93% of 2019 levels in Q3 and Q4. This significant progress and the improved productivity of customers who are visiting slightly less frequently but spending more demonstrate strong underlying conditions and is a good indicator of what we can expect in 2022. It means that we have a mission-driven customer that is coming to our centers ready to buy.
That superior quality of customer is acknowledged by our increasing footprint with key retailers, which I will speak to shortly. On the back of this performance and without another wave of restrictions, we are confident we will fully return to pre-pandemic levels in 2022. Looking first at the U.S., which in the current climate is acting as a better whether for the broader recovery given their earlier reopening. The performance here is consistently at or above 2019 levels in the second half, with stronger performance at non-CBD flagship assets, less impacted by remote working and in certain sectors such as luxury and home. One point to make here that also applies for Europe is about the entertainment segment and specifically movie theaters, which have been hit hard by restrictions and the delayed release of blockbuster movies.
We believe strongly in the category and its resilience, particularly the premium theater experiences we offer. On fashion, which is up 1%, I want to highlight that this was a category that was expected to be negatively impacted by e-commerce sales. What we are seeing is the opposite. Fashion sales are up both online and in stores. Inditex, for example, announcing their third quarter results that they were doing more sales in stores overall, even with 11% less stores. Finally, on food and beverage, considering the challenges and ongoing restrictions they have been facing, at -4%, we see them operating at almost pre-pandemic levels.
We believe that this is, again, indicating a more productive shopper with shopping and dining in the same visit and staying longer, while we also benefit from the increased volume of food delivery originating, generating additional sales based on it. Our performance in 2021 validates this strategy, showing EUR 80.2 million in sales-based rents, up 93% from 2020 and up 30% from 2019. Based on this performance, we have confidence that we will convert many of these leases from short to long-term under much more favorable conditions. We began seeing this in the second half of the year, where we signed a greater number of long-term leases, 55% of these in H2 versus 44% in H1, and with higher MGR leased at 2.2% versus 1.3% in H1.
This demonstrates our tight control on the leasing strategy during the pandemic, and we will continue our steady forward management through the recovery. Our longer term partnerships with key retailers continues to demonstrate the strengths of our portfolio and validates our flagship destination strategy. Top retailers have been increasing both the number of stores and their individual store footprints with us at the time when they have been closing stores globally. Overall, GLA for the brands shown here grew by 12% between 2019 and 2021. These retailers are committed to these assets and are investing in their stores. Zara opened its largest store in France at Les 4 Temps, which was upgraded to 5,800 sq m from a smaller footprint of 3,400 sq m.
At Westfield London, we have signed a new Nike flagship opening later this year that will almost triple their store size at the center, while at Westfield Valley Fair, we opened the new Apple store just miles from their Cupertino headquarters, more than tripling their footprint with one of the most beautiful stores in their portfolio. In addition to these top brands, we are always focused on refreshing our retail mix by introducing new brands and concepts to create fresh experiences for customers and ensure a dynamic, exciting energy at our centers. Last year, I talked about our emerging retail players in growth sectors like innovative auto, digitally native vertical brands, and leisure were choosing URW locations to build brand awareness and drive customer acquisition.
In 2021, we saw this launchpad effect continue with the Youseum Instagram Museum at Westfield Mall of the Netherlands, which had tremendous success building its brand and has signed two new leases, expanding the concept to Westfield Mall of Scandinavia and Westfield Centro. We are also the partner of choice for brands who are expanding into physical stores at select locations worldwide to build customer loyalty, like Amazon, which opened a branch of its four-star store at Westfield London. Not only are we the go-to destination for new concepts, but we are also at the vanguard of creating them at our flagship centers. In 2021, we successfully developed and launched the first food hall in a shopping center called Food Society at Westfield Les 4 Temps in partnership with Moma Group.
Combining local restaurant operators, bars, and premium offerings, we are now bringing similar concepts to assets like Westfield Topanga and Westfield Hamburg-Überseequartier. We are also meeting consumer demand by proactively growing the number of sustainable and inclusive brands at our centers with concepts such as Joyeux, a cafe that supports disability inclusion, Allbirds, a sustainable apparel company, and EP Market, which sells only recycled clothing. As traffic returned to our centers, we saw good recovery of our brand advertising, pop-up retail, and other commercial revenues, up over 16% compared to 2020. Parking revenues also increased as expected, over 40% compared to 2020. Diverse global brands like Netflix, Google, and Dior are some of the most dynamic advertisers in the world. They are all returning to our platform to generate visibility for their products, as well as engage directly with customers.
While we expect these revenues to get closer to 2019 levels in 2022, we see substantial revenue growth potential in this area as we work to best capture and leverage the audience at our centers. This will be a focus at our Investor Day, and the team and I are looking forward to showing more details on our plans. To conclude this section, I want to highlight the progress we have made at Trinity, our office tower in La Défense, delivered in November 2020. The building is now over 60% let at very good rates, with significant interest from potential tenants for the remaining available space. Similar to our destination strategy at shopping centers, our office projects follow the same approach, creating can't-miss destinations that meet tenant needs, even in a post-pandemic working environment.
Trinity has shown that if you have the right location and the right product, you can lease it at premium rates, even in a market with 12% vacancy. We have consistently demonstrated our capabilities in this area with projects such as Majunga as well. We'll do this again with our Triangle development project, launched a few weeks ago with our partner, AXA Investment Managers. With that, I will hand over to Fabrice.
Thank you, Jean-Marie, and hello, everyone. Jean-Marie has painted a clear picture of our performance in 2021 with a clear improvement seen in H2. Even with the emergence of the Omicron variant in Q4, this improvement is visible across all group KPIs, be it rent collection, leasing activity, and vacancy. We also made significant progress with our deleveraging program and further improved our liquidity position. Adjusted recurring earnings for full year 2021 stands at EUR 6.91 per share compared to EUR 7.28 per share in 2020.
This is above our AREPS guidance of at least EUR 6.75 , thanks to high sales-based rent on the back of strong retailer sales, as mentioned by Jean-Marie, lower doubtful debt provisions as collection rates improved in Q3 and Q4, and stronger operating performance, in particular, thanks to the return of C&E activity. The 5.2% decrease in AREPS reflects the impact of disposals in 2020 and 2021 as part of our comprehensive deleveraging program. I will take you through the various drivers on the following slide. Like-for-like net rental income was down slightly by 1.6% for the whole portfolio, improving significantly compared to - 22.4% in H1 and - 26.4% last year. Moving now to a breakdown of full year 2021 adjusted recurring EPS.
The impact of disposals completed in 2020 and 2021 was EUR 0.68 per share. Restating 2020 for these disposals, our 2021 AREPS increased by 4.7%. This was driven by successful deliveries during 2020 and 2021, in particular, the Valley Fair and Garden State Plaza extensions, the fashion pavilion at Westfield La Maquinista, and Westfield Mall of the Netherlands. We also benefited from the recovery of the C&E activity in the second half. Our decision to secure a strong liquidity position to support our deleveraging program resulted in increased financial expenses with a negative impact of EUR 0.11. Our performance also reflects resilient retail activity. NRI for shopping centers on a like-for-like basis was down by 1.2%, a major improvement given H1 figures of -21.8%.
Under IFRS 16, we have to straight-line the rent relief over the duration of the lease whenever we receive concessions for the rent relief provided. If you exclude the straight-lining impacts for 2020 and 2021, and only take into account the cash impact of COVID-19 rent relief in these two years, like-for-like NRI would be up marginally by 0.5%. This is made of 7% decrease from net closures, renewals, and relocations, largely the direct effect of the pandemic on vacancy and leasing, while the impact from COVID-19 rent relief was limited. The contribution for sales-based rents increased 2% at group level, with strong performance in the U.S. and the U.K. The other category also increased thanks to lower doubtful debtors as collection rates improve, as well as high variable income from parking and commercial partnership, as Jean-Marie outlined.
Looking at our performance by region now. NRI was down 7.5% in Continental Europe and -4.3% excluding COVID rent relief straight-lining impact. U.K. NRI was up 26.4%, including the proceeds of an insurance claim covering some loss of revenue. Excluding this insurance claim, the like-for-like NRI growth in the U.K. was 17.4%. This performance also reflects a low basis for comparison, as like-for-like NRI in 2020 was down by 49%. U.S. NRI on a like-for-like basis was positive, up 12.7%. Net closures, renewals, and relocations were impacted by higher vacancy over the period, as well as rent downlifts, in particular on short-term leases. These downlifts were partially compensated by higher SBR, up 7.7%. Moving now to rent collection.
Rent collection improved in the second half as centers reopened. The Omicron had an impact in Q4, albeit limited. First and second quarter collection rates have also improved since we reported half year results, increasing from 73% to 83% and 85%, respectively today. For the full year, based on all rents invoiced, rent collection stands at 88% for the group and 92% in H2. This is up from 73% at the half year and 80% at full year 2020. As you can see on the right-hand side, the group maintains a conservative approach to bad debt provisions. The amounts invoiced but not collected have been either booked as rent relief, reducing the rental revenues or fully provisioned. 2021 saw also a significant decrease in bankruptcies versus 2020 as retailer performance improved with 57% fewer than last year.
The 281 stores affected by bankruptcies across the group's portfolio represent 2.4% of total stores, compared to 5.2% last year. The biggest improvement was in the U.S., with the number of impacted units falling from 6.5% to 1.5% as restrictions were lifted earlier and retailer performance improved. Once again, thanks to the quality of our asset tenants, the tenants remained in place or even were replaced in the majority of the cases, representing 81% of the units affected, compared to 71% in 2021. Moving now to vacancy. In H2, vacancy levels came down in all regions, reaching 7% at group level at year-end. This follows an increase during H1 from 8.3% at December 2020 to 8.9% at June 2021.
The vacancy rate in Continental Europe decreased from 5% at half year to 4% at year-end, with improvements in all countries. In particular, Austria now stands at below 1%, Central Europe at 3%, and France and Spain both at 3.6%. U.K. vacancies decreased from 12.2% to 10.6%, but remain above 2019 levels, mainly in Westfield London due to bankruptcies and retailers that did not reopen after lockdown. The U.S. is also tracking downwards. Vacancy increased slightly between December 2020 and June 2021, but fell sharply in H2 to reach 11%. This figure is below year-end 2020 levels. The vacancy rate for U.S. flagship assets, excluding WTC and San Francisco, i.e., those most affected by work from home orders, was 9.3%.
This was an improvement from 12% at year-end 2020 and 12.4% at H1 2021. This vacancy reduction was driven by our pragmatic and effective leasing strategy. Letting activity has returned to 2019 levels as URW signed new leases or renewals with a number of premium brands who continue to invest in flagship space and concepts at URW centers. In total, URW signed 2,399 deals, up 2% compared to full year 2019 and 60% versus full year 2020. This trend was consistent across Europe and the U.S., with a fairly even balance between renewals and lettings and relettings. Short-term deals contributed to this leasing activity and were mainly concentrated on renewals in the U.S., as indicated in H1. Looking now at lettings in more detail.
As Jean-Marie said, our strategy to use short-term deals to limit vacancy without affecting long-term value has paid off. For the full year, the uplift for deals over 36 months was + 1.8% from 1.3% in H1. This demonstrate the long-term appeal of our assets and retailers increasing confidence in the outlook. Looking specifically at Continental Europe, the new rents signed were in line with passing rents at -0.5%, including both long-term and short-term deals, compared with -2.2% in H1. As the operating environment improved during the year, we also saw a lower proportion of short-term deals in H2 than in H1. In H1, they represented 56% of total leases signed at group level, down to 45% in H2.
As you can see from the charts, the U.S. saw the biggest change between H1 and H2, with long-term deals moving from 28%-44% of leases signed. At a group level, the MGR change on these short-term deals was -13.4% from -13.8% in H1, with differences between regions reflecting their respective vacancy levels. As Jean-Marie also said, the lost MGR on short-term deals was partially compensated by sales-based rent top-ups, thanks to improved retailer sales performance in 2021. Let's use the U.S., where the proportion of short-term leases has been most significant to look more closely now at the strong performance in sales-based rents.
In total, the contribution of sales-based rents to U.S. shopping centers increased from EUR 18.3 million in 2020 to EUR 50.1 million in 2021, an increase of around EUR 32 million in total. EUR 18.8 million relate to leases signed before 2021. This represents a doubling of the sales-based rents on the back of stronger retail performance in 2021 and impact of short-term deals signed in previous years. For the rest, i.e., EUR 13 million, they relate to sales-based rent linked to renewals and relettings signed in 2021, which were mainly short-term deals. This amount only reflects part of the full year SBR impact as they depend on the effective date of these leases.
Now, when we annualize the sales-based rents coming from these deals based on conservative assumptions and seasonal effects, they would be just under EUR 22 million. This provides a significant compensation for the EUR 22.1 million loss in MGR on 2021 relettings and renewals in the U.S., i.e., the difference between the new rents and the previous rents in place on a full year basis. This demonstrates the validity of our leasing strategy. We maintain a similar level of total revenues with a larger proportion of sales-based rents while preserving the long-term value of our assets. This positions us to negotiate under better conditions whenever these short-term deals expire. Moving now to offices. NRI is down due to the disposals of the SHiFT, Le Village 3, 4 and 6, and Le Blériot office buildings with a total impact of - EUR 23 million.
On a like-for-like basis, NRI was positive in France and down 6.6% on the group basis. These like-for-like figures do not include Trinity Tower in La Défense, which was delivered at the end of 2020 with no pre-letting and is now 63% let with seven leases signed with blue-chip tenants. As mentioned by Jean-Marie, these leases were signed at very good terms with an average rental level of around EUR 560 per sq m, despite an overall increase in the vacancy rate in the La Défense market. This demonstrates the quality of this asset and URW's know-how in this space. The return of convention exhibition activity was a major positive after a first half with almost no shows or events as a result of restrictions.
In H2, all restrictions were lifted except for the requirement to show a negative COVID-19 test or proof of vaccination to attend events. On a volume basis, H2 2021 was broadly comparable with H2 2019, the last normal comparative period, with 278 events versus 294, respectively. As of the end of January, there were 401 pre-bookings for 2022, of which 254 are non-cancelable. Total prebookings for 2022 on a volume basis represent 81% of the pre-bookings as at the same point in 2018, the relevant comparative period. As previously stated, activity is expected to return to normal in 2023, where we also expect to benefit from the build-up to the Paris Olympics from H2 2023 onwards.
The return of convention exhibition activity is reflected in these results with a strong improvement compared to full year 2020 and between H1 and H2 2021. 2021, H1 saw a negative net operating income as all venues were closed. Thanks to the recovery in the second half, the end result was a net operating income of EUR 55 million for the year. Compared to full year 2019, net operating income was down 64.8% as 2021 net operating income only reflected half a year of activity and was still below pre-COVID levels. Moving now to our portfolio valuations, which stand at EUR 54.5 billion at a 3.3% reduction versus year-end 2020.
This is primarily due to EUR 1.9 billion of disposals and foreclosures, a like-for-like revaluation of almost EUR 2 billion, mainly attributable to retail, with some stabilization in H2, and I will come back to this. This decline was partly offset by CapEx and acquisitions of EUR 1.1 billion and a positive Forex impact of EUR 1.2 billion due to the strengthening of the U.S. dollar and sterling against the euro. The like-for-like value of the retail portfolio decreased year-on-year by EUR 1.8 billion or 4.4%. In Continental Europe, which represents 69% of the gross market value of the retail portfolio, valuations are bottoming out, down 2% for the year and only - 0.3% in H2.
These valuations are supported by the disposal prices achieved on sales signed or completed in 2021 and in early 2022. These include the sale of EUR 1.1 billion of assets completed at an average 1.6% premium to last appraisals. U.K. valuations, which represent 6% of the retail portfolio, have seen the largest total decrease in valuation over the last three years at -42%. Valuations were down 14% in 2021, including 9.1% in H1 and 5.2% in H2. The net initial yield of the U.K. portfolio now stands at 5.3%, while the net potential yield, taking into account the current level of vacancy in the U.K., is 6.3% for what are the two best assets in the U.K.
U.S. assets were down 8.2% in 2021, split between 2.7% in H1 and 5.5% in H2, reflecting appraisers' adjustments on the discount rate and lower cash flows. Looking ahead now, a key question you may have relates to the impact of increasing inflation and interest rates on valuations. From a cash flow standpoint, we expect to benefit from increased inflation. In Continental Europe, all rents are indexed, usually based on the consumer price index. As you can see on the graph on the right-hand side, URW's rents in Continental Europe have historically tracked inflation evolution with a one-year delay as rental indexation in a given year is based on the inflation of the previous year.
U.K. and U.S. leases are not indexed as in continental Europe, but around half of all leases are tied to retailer sales in the U.K. and circa 90% in the U.S. We will therefore benefit indirectly from inflation through sales-based rents, representing 5.5% in 2021 net rental income for the U.K. and 15.9% for the U.S. Looking next at the potential impact of increased interest rates on valuation. URW shopping center valuations saw an increase in the risk premium attached to these assets. At year-end, this risk premium assessed as the difference between the net initial yield of the assets and the 10-year risk-free rate stood at 440 basis points in France, 460 basis points in the U.K., and 280 basis points in the U.S.
This risk premium has increased in recent years as a result of uncertainty generated by the COVID crisis. This risk premium will be less justified as the performance of these assets recover, as we started to see in H2 2021. Cap rates are protected by high-risk premiums, which are expected to provide a buffer and absorb rate increase, making the valuations less sensitive compared to other classes. In addition, the natural hedge against inflation provided by retail assets, as we've just seen, should increase the interest of investors looking for real assets with visible cash flows. Looking now at the liability side. As you can see on the graph, the group's financial debt is fully hedged. Others with debt kept at fixed rate also hedge instruments.
Hedging instruments will even be in excess of the debt to be covered as our debt decreases as a result of our deleveraging program. We will adjust hedging levels accordingly, and the increase in interest rate will also provide the positive effect on the mark-to-market of the debt and of the financial instruments. Finally, the impact of a rate increase on the recurring financial expenses is limited thanks to the hedging instruments that we have in place.
If the three-month Euribor or USD LIBOR rates were to increase by 25 basis points above December 2021 levels, the impact on the group's P&L for 2022 would be -EUR 22 million, mainly due to our net debt in euros hedged through caps. If these rates were to increase by 100 basis points, i.e., 4x more, the impact would be EUR 33 million as the caps on the debt in euros would be activated. If these rates were to then increase by another 100 basis points to 200 basis points, the additional impact would be less than EUR 2 million. In total, this only represents 3% of the total expected result for the year in case of a 200 basis points increase in rates. As a reminder, rates have increased since year-end 2020.
One, the reference we use to compute this sensitivity analysis by four basis points for the Euribor, where we have the highest sensitivity, 15 basis points for the USD LIBOR, and 53 basis points for the SONIA rate in the U.K., for which we are fully hedged. Looking now at the NAV on slide 37, the EPRA net reinstatement value stands at EUR 159.6 per share at December 2021. The 4.3% decrease is mainly driven by the revaluation of investment properties, particularly the like-for-like retail valuation outlined already. This was partially offset by retained recurring results, capital gains on disposals, and positive FX moves, as mentioned earlier. Moving now to financial ratios, where our loan-to-value has been positively impacted by the decrease in net debt, thanks to our deleveraging program.
IFRS net financial debt stands at EUR 22.6 billion at the end of 2021, down from EUR 24.2 billion at year-end 2020. This is a EUR 1.6 billion euros decrease, mainly as a result of the EUR 2.3 billion of disposals and EUR 1 billion of retained earnings. It also includes a negative FX impact of EUR 0.4 billion, as well as the EUR 1.1 billion spent in CapEx in 2021 as we continued to invest on our assets and project. This debt is EUR 22.1 billion on a pro forma basis for the disposals signed in 2022. Despite the decrease in value mentioned earlier, the LTV decreased from 44.7% at the end of 2020 to 43.3% at year-end.
This falls further to 42.5% if you factor in the signed disposals I've just mentioned. On a proportionate basis, the LTV stands at 44.9% and 44.2% pro forma for the same disposals versus 46.3% last year. URW's key credit ratios demonstrate an improving trend between H1 and H2 as shopping centers reopen and financial performance improved. These ratios remain impacted by the 33% decrease in EBITDA registered since 2019 as a result of COVID. As our debt continues to decrease and EBITDA recovers, we expect to see significant improvement in these ratios in 2022. URW also continued to benefit from favorable access to credit markets and its strong liquidity position.
In 2021, we raised EUR 1.25 billion of bonds with an average coupon of 1.05% and around 10-year maturity. The group also raised around EUR 500 million in mortgage debt to facilitate the disposal of assets through joint ventures. The group also worked on the extension of its credit facilities with the signing of almost EUR 4 billion of credit facilities in 2021. Thanks to these signings, the group has EUR 9.9 billion of credit facilities and an increased average debt maturity of 8.6 years. To optimize cash without impacting our liquidity profile, the group repaid ahead of schedule EUR 1.1 billion of debt maturing within the year.
Our cash position still stands at EUR 2.3 billion at year-end 2021, in line with December 2020 levels, despite these anticipated repayments. In total, cash plus the credit facilities stands at EUR 12.1 billion, covering the group's funding needs for the next 36 months, even without raising any additional debt or completing further disposals. This is 12 months more coverage than our position last year. Deleveraging remains the key financial priority for the group, and we have made significant progress during 2021 on each of the pillars that we presented to you last year. Jean-Marie has commented on our objective to radically reduce our exposure to the U.S. I'm going to share more detail on our European disposal program of EUR 4 billion, which is now 62% complete, and the 2021 progress in streamlining the U.S. portfolio of regional assets.
In terms of CapEx, they amounted to around EUR 1 billion in 2021, in line with the group's commitment to limit its CapEx to a maximum of EUR 2 billion for 2021 and 2022. I will take you through the development pipeline in more detail, in particular, the partnership model that allows us to launch selected projects without impacting our balance sheet. As Jean-Marie outlined, we made significant progress on our European disposal program in 2021. These disposals amounted to EUR 2.5 billion, including disposals signed in 2022. Overall, they were achieved at a cumulative 6.2% premium to the last appraisals at a net initial yield of 4.4%. As you can see, there is a fairly even split between retail and office disposals, with EUR 1.1 billion of retail disposals and EUR 1.4 billion of office.
On the retail side, there are two broad types of transactions. The first type is the full sale of assets that are non-core to our flagship destination strategy due to the location or size. We intend to fully dispose of these, as we've done in the past. The most recent example being the sale of Solna Centrum in Stockholm to a fully owned subsidiary of the major Swedish pension fund, Alecta, closed on February 1st. The second type relates to selected flagship assets. We'll target the sale of stakes in joint venture partnerships with institutional players, where we will continue to control, manage the asset, and receive fees for asset and property management services.
As an illustration of this strategy, on February 7 th, the group agreed the sale of a 45% stake in Westfield Carré Sénart to insurance companies Sogecap and Cardif at a price in line with latest appraisal. On the office side, the focus has been on the full disposal of metro offices, as we've done in the past, the most recent example being the sale and leaseback of the group's headquarters at 7 Adenauer in Paris. Based on our achievements in 2021 and the processes currently ongoing, we are fully confident in our ability to deliver the remaining disposals of EUR 1.5 billion by the end of 2022 to meet the EUR 4 billion target we set ourselves. In 2021, we continued to streamline the U.S. portfolio with a focus on assets operating significantly below the average in terms of occupancy and sales intensity.
As a result of this process, we transferred five weaker assets and their non-recourse debt through voluntary foreclosures. This process resulted in the recognition of $411 million of debt on an IFRS basis and a positive net cash gain of EUR 44 million as the book value of these assets was below the debt financing them. In addition, URW completed the disposal of its 50% stake in the Palisade residential building at Westfield UTC at a 15% premium to last appraisals. With financing markets reopening and strong operational performance, the group is confident that it will be able to execute its U.S. deleveraging plans over the course of 2022, 2023. We continued to reduce our development pipeline, which stands at EUR 3.2 billion at December 2021 from EUR 4.4 billion in December 2020.
To put this in context, in 2018, our pipeline was circa EUR 12 billion. Deliveries with an average letting of 94% represent the main component for this change in 2021. Successful delivery of these assets, in particular Mall of the Netherlands, generated a valuation surplus in 2021 compared to last appraisal values and historical cost. The JV partnership on Triangle also supported a reduction in our development pipeline. Of our EUR 3.2 billion pipeline, EUR 2.4 billion is for committed projects, of which EUR 1.4 billion has been invested to date. The remaining EUR 1.9 billion that remains to be spent includes EUR 1.1 billion on committed projects and a flexible control component of EUR 0.8 billion, which we can assess based on a range of factors, including our deleveraging progress.
I want now to give you a quick update on two key mixed-use projects under development, representing 68% of the committed pipeline. Starting with the Gaîté Montparnasse project, one of the largest and most ambitious urban development projects in Paris, with a total investment cost of around EUR 480 million. Les Ateliers Gaîté shopping and entertainment complex is 80% pre-let. The office space is fully let to Wojo, a co-working operator. The site also includes housing units and a renovated public library. The Pullman Paris Montparnasse hotel, which is also part of the project, was delivered last year and is managed by Accor. The second project is Westfield Hamburg-Überseequartier, a mixed-use urban district encompassing retail, office, residential, and hotel space.
It is the largest active city center project in Europe and is set to open in H2 2023 with a total investment cost of EUR 1.3 billion. The retail component is already almost 50% pre-let, while the hotel component is fully let. These developments should generate a stabilized NRI in excess of EUR 410 million, creating future growth for the company. As we stated at the half year, the group will only consider launching new control projects after completing its deleveraging program or through a joint venture partnership that would allow the group to reduce its capital allocation on these projects while generating development or management fees. I wanted to take you through a project where we are deploying this type of partnership, the Triangle development in Paris.
Triangle is a 180 m high tower that combines office space with a conference center, auditorium, cultural center, shopping gallery, and a four-star hotel. It is set to become a landmark building in the thriving media and telecom cluster of the southwest of Paris. The project incorporates the highest environmental construction standards, notably in terms of energy efficiency and carbon footprint. Our success in leasing the Triangle Tower gives us full confidence to do the same for this project, generating attractive growth prospects and returns. In November, URW signed a co-investment partnership with AXA Investment Managers, retaining a 30% stake and an agreement to provide property, asset, and project management services. URW will also benefit from a promote further improving returns. Initial work started at the end of 2021, with an expected delivery in 2026.
Construction is expected to create more than 5,000 direct and indirect jobs within the community. We'll provide more detail on our approach and intentions in this space at Investor Day. That's all from me, and I will now hand back to Jean-Marie for some concluding remarks.
Thank you, Fabrice. In conclusion, we are confident that footfall and tenant sales will continue to grow in 2022, soon reaching or exceeding 2019 levels. The robust leasing activity seen in the second half of 2021 will continue based on the unique attractiveness of our assets. We expect vacancy levels to continue to fall, and that our asset values will stabilize through long-term leases and sustained MGR levels. We will also continue to benefit from a higher volume of sales-based rents. Our deleveraging program is on track, and we are ready to capitalize on the recovery to deliver on our targets in Europe and in the U.S. In this improving global environment, our guidance for 2022 is an adjusted recurring AREPS of EUR 8.20-EUR 8.40.
With the recovery plan shared at the start of 2021 fully in place and demonstrating its strengths, it is the right moment to look at the future and share details of our vision and strategy going forward at our upcoming Investor Day. With that, I will open it up to questions. Thank you.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, if you wish to ask a question, please press zero one on your telephone keypad. We have a first question from Florent Laroche-Joubert from ODDO BHF. Sir, please go ahead.
Yes. Thank you. Hello, everyone. Thank you for the presentation. I may have two questions, so if I may. The first one is on the reduction of the U.S. financial exposure. You seem to be very confident to reach your targets. Would it be possible to maybe have more color on the stage or on where you are in terms of discussion? Have you already advanced discussions for some projects for reducing your financial exposure? This is maybe the first question. Second question would be on your guidance. What does it include in terms of disposals for 2022? Would it be also possible maybe to have a potential guidance if 2022 would have been a normal year?
Thank you very much.
Thank you for your question. I will take the one on the radical reduction of our U.S. exposure over 2022 and 2023. As we said, we have been doing our homework. We determined a series of options, and we are confident looking at, you know, two things. First, our operations being on track. Second, seeing, you know, the CMBS market reopening for high-equity assets that we'll be able to drastically reduce our financial exposure to the U.S. going forward over, you know, the course of 2022 and 2023. What I can tell you is this, strong confidence in our ability to do it.
Regarding now your question on the disposals, in fact, they include the completion of our European disposal program, because as we stated, we have a plan of EUR 4 billion. We've already achieved EUR 2.5 billion, and we are left with EUR 1.5 billion to be achieved by the end of 2022. This is incorporated, as well as some adjustments and future further streamlining of our U.S. regional assets. These are the elements that are included. When it comes now to the guidance for 2022, we have not come back to pre-COVID levels. This is what you've seen in particular on the C&E activity. You've seen that H1 2021 had zero performance because the convention exhibition centers were closed.
There was a strong improvement in H2, EUR 57 million of net operating income, but we are still far from the normalized regular year of EUR 157 million. That was the last pre-COVID year of 2019. The other illustration is that when it comes to the pre-booking level, we are at 81% of the 2018 pre-booking levels, meaning that we are not yet back to pre-COVID levels. In the same way, for the retail activity, there will still be some lagging effect of the COVID pandemic because the starting point in terms of vacancy is higher than what we had pre-COVID.
It has decreased, as Jean-Marie mentioned, and as we've mentioned, by 190 basis points in H2, so it is a strong improvement, but we are still at 7% versus usually a 5% level pre-COVID. This still embeds this impact as well as the impact of the negative downlift on short-term deals that we are signing in 2021. That's why 2022 will not yet be back to pre-COVID levels in terms of underlying operating performance.
Thank you. Next question from Alvaro Santiago Dominguez from BNP Exane. Sir, please go ahead.
Yes. Thank you very much for the presentation. Couple of questions, if I may. Yeah, I think five. I will try to be short. The first one, in terms of credit rating, you seem to have improved your LTV position. Have you initiated any discussion with agencies for potentially revising your rating or your outlook? And also, if you have any indication of the average cost of that we should expect for 2022 and 2023. That is the first one. The second one, taking into account your words, you seem confident in transforming many short-term leases into long-term leases. So why tenants are so eager to move from short-term to long-term leases is a question that they are capable of securing lower and more stable rent.
What is the rationale for tenants there? Then, third question, OCRs, historically, you have provided data on OCR for tenants. It is that relevant in the new environment now? How OCR is evolving in your portfolio. Then the fourth question in terms of CapEx, I think it's important, what sort of replacement, enhancement, in general, maintenance CapEx we should expect for the next two years. Finally, a word on Germany, what happened with the portfolio, and rents there? Is that there's something going on that specific market in terms of retail exposure? That would be the five questions from my side. Thank you.
Thank you for this couple of questions. Maybe I will start with the, you know, with the long-term leases or our ability to turn, you know, short-term leases into long-term leases. You see first that in between the H1 and H2, we have been able to shift, you know, the number of long-term leases to a higher proportion or from what it was in H1, was 44%, became 55%. Why is that? Because the retailers, they need as well, you know, to secure their investments. When you like, for example, Inditex with the Zara store that they opened, or even Nike when they opened, you know, they tripled the size of the store.
They need also long-term commitment and long-term security of their own investment. This is where, you know, being able to look at what has been the level of performance of a store, and then having the ability to invest, we see our ability to transform part of their short-term leases into long-term leases just to secure these tenants. When you are doing good business, there is no reason why you want to leave, right? This is where this is really the strategy to rebalance and avoid having to negotiate at the worst time ever in our industry, long-term commitment when we are not able to reach our, you know, targets, when the tenants wants to be secured on the way they would be able to recover sales.
That's for the long-term leases, so really a security on their own investment for the retailers. On the OCR, I think that as we are, I mean, you know, facing a huge crisis linked to the COVID restrictions. The level of sales is somehow has been, you know, globally lower than what it used to be. You see that we are back to the 2019 levels in Q4, and this will be the time where we'll be able to look at again at the OCRs. The OCRs in 2021 and 2020, they don't mean anything. You can look at them, you know, maybe with the level of rent relief that we granted, that is being, you know, pretty huge again this year.
Almost the same level of last year. At that stage, I think that the OCR would be something that we can review more extensively during 2022 on the back of the 2022 performance.
Regarding your question on the rating agencies, of course, that will be their decision. This being said, we are in line and even above what we've shown them last year in terms of performance for 2021. We also highlighted, and we will highlight the improvement of the environment that we've seen and the performance in H2, including the leasing activity, the reduction of vacancy, the rent collection, the disposal progress that we've made. We'll see the reaction when we meet with them in the course of March. Last, your question regarding the cost of debt.
It has increased from 2020 to 2021 mainly as a result of the cash that we had to get and to secure in order to pursue our deleveraging program in the best conditions. This was EUR 2.3 billion at year-end. It was EUR 2.3 billion in 2020 as well. Basically above EUR 2 billion of cash, which has a cost of EUR 0.50 . This was the main driver for the cost of debt. It is likely to stay the same in 2022 as we'll continue to have this strong cash position.
Now, when it comes to the sensitivity to interest rates, as I've mentioned, we have a very limited sensitivity to interest rates, and in particular on the euro side, where we have the highest exposure, it is EUR 20 million in total. But you see that it would be just for a 25 basis points increase. And today on the euro side, we've only seen a four basis points increase. There should be a stability of the cost of debt in total.
That was the CapEx, maybe.
Thank you.
Actually, yeah. Sorry. The maintenance CapEx. Sorry. You're right. The maintenance CapEx, you have all the details in the MD&A. They are in the region of EUR 70 million-EUR 80 million per year.
Sorry. Please limit yourself to two questions per person. Thank you. Next question from Sander Bunck from Barclays. Sir, please go ahead.
Hi, team. Good morning, and thanks very much for the presentation. Two questions from my side, please. First one is on your thinking around indexation and rent increases as we enter FY 2022. Just wanted to make sure I get this right. So I think Eurozone CPI is running roughly currently around 5% or so. And most of your European leases have an inflation element to it. Is it fair to assume that on that basis, just leaving everything the same, the indexed element of your leases in Europe should increase in FY 2022 by roughly the same amount? Or is it not that simple? That's my first question.
I think as you've seen, in fact, when we've put the evolution of the CPI and the indexation that we've been able to capture in the NRI with a one-year delay, there's a strong correlation. I think that would be a fair assumption to assume that. It being mentioned that the figures that you are mentioning, the 5% is in some regions, not across the board, so that will not be the same magnitude. I think the figures that you've seen in terms of CPI for 2021 should have a positive impact on 2022 rents as shown on the graph.
I presume on that basis, you can't give a base case for like rent growth guidance by 2022 because the FY 2021 CPI numbers are pretty much all known. Do you have a sense of what that potentially could be?
I mean, just look at the graph and you'll see the level that is likely to be. It mentioned that, you know, not all the leases are indexed at the beginning of the year. If I take, for instance, the French example, leases are spread over the four quarters, and therefore part of the indexation is known, but it's only 20% of the indexation for the year that is known with the leases that are indexed on the Q3 of last year. Again, I think this graph shows you a good proxy for what the indexation is likely to have in terms of impact for us in 2022, sorry.
Okay, great. Thank you. The other question I had was coming back kind of on the stabilized earnings numbers. If I understood correctly, I think most of the upside that you're seeing in terms of stabilizing earnings appear to be coming mainly from the convention and exhibition center, if I understand correctly. But please correct me if I didn't get that right. I was just wondering if you were to sell 100% of the U.S., and kind of what would on your estimates roughly be the earnings impact of that? Like, what is the current earnings contribution from the U.S. business to the overall AREPS?
I mean, on your first question, we took the example of the C&E just to illustrate that we are not back in 2022 to pre-COVID levels. What applies to the C&E activity also applies to the retail activity, and in particular, as I've mentioned, because our starting point in terms of vacancy is higher than what we had pre-COVID, at 7%, even though it has decreased. We still suffer from, or we are still impacted by the down lease that we've signed leases at in 2021. That's why my point was taken as an example of the C&E activity, but the same that would apply for the retail activity.
We'll see of course, as the vacancy decreases to a much more stabilized or normalized level in the years following 2022. The other impact, by the way, for 2022 compared to 2021, 2019 or pre-COVID levels is also, as I've mentioned, the cost of debt, which is likely to stay above in 2022 compared to the 2019 level, again, due to this strong cash position that we have gathered to operate and to deliver our deleveraging program in the best conditions.
Okay.
Thanks.
Sorry, just on the question on the U.S., if you were to sell 100% of the U.S., what would be the earnings impact of that?
I think you have the data when it comes to the NRI activity generated by the U.S. in the MD&A. You have also the detail on the debt, so we can give you all the elements, but you have all the building blocks in the documentation.
Okay. Thank you very much.
Thank you. Next question from Bruno Duclos from Invest Securities. Sir, please go ahead.
Thank you. Good morning. My first question is regarding Carré Sénart, which was one of your best flagship, especially in 2019. Is there any specific reason why this asset was disposed? Is the deal structure in the same way as the Crédit Agricole Assurances deal in terms of creating an SPV? My second question is regarding the short-term leases. What is the view of the appraisers on these assets in terms of rents? Do they assume that in the long term, the rents will be the same as the one you have right now, including the SDR?
In terms of discounting cash flow, do they take into account the fact that the NRI is more volatile and you have, of course, less visibility given the short-term period of the lease?
On Carré Sénart, I will leave you the question on the NRI or the valuation impact, Fabrice. On Carré Sénart, this is the same kind of deal that we had, you know, with Predica in terms of structure. Carré Sénart in itself is a very strong asset, and we continue to see, you know, potential and growth, which has been fully renovated and extended, so which is also in terms of requirement, in terms of investment, is somehow, you know, giving us the ability for our potential investor to see that he doesn't have, you know, to put additional CapEx.
We have an asset that is in terms of valuation and requirements in terms of investment. Some are very secured. And that's why, you know, you can then optimize the value as well for us. We have been selling this asset for us. Valuation is around, you know, circa EUR 1 billion. This is a balance in between potential of development and as well, you know, value created and the assets that would be the most appealing for investors. That's the way we look at it. We keep, you know, 55%. We continue to consolidate the asset. That's a good deal for us as well as for our JV partner.
When it comes to the short-term deals, in fact, they take into account the short-term deals for the remaining duration, and then they make assumptions in terms of vacancy to release the vacant units or the vacant units vacated at the expiry of the short-term deals. Their own assumptions in terms of estimated rental value for the units, which would be, in fact, their own assumptions on this front.
Take a higher discount rate for this kind of assets.
I think that, you know, what they look at, you know, the turnover rent is based on what? Or the sales-based rent is based on what? It's based on the sales, you know, track record. When you look at the sales density per square meter of our assets, they are among the best in our markets. We have the track record. That's the way, you know, that they can, you know, converge in terms of discount rate of these revenues to, you know, what is, you know, for the MGR.
As we've shown as well, you know, in 2021, with the recovery of the sales for our tenant, is that we have been able to recapture what we gave up in terms of MGR for the short-term leases. They take assumptions that are, you know, that we capture a part of the turnover rent.
Thank you.
From Green Street. Sir, please go ahead.
Morning, gents. Can we just go back to the plans for the U.S. portfolio for a second, please? How wedded or otherwise are you to a disposal there? What I mean by that is I'm conscious of improving operating fundamentals in the U.S., but also for your need to deleverage. Are you looking at just a wholesale disposal of the whole portfolio? Are you happy to sell some of your better assets there? You know, 70% of the value is in only five assets. Or are you happy for JVs? In all of this, I am conscious that earlier this week, one of your U.S. peers said that he feels no pressure to grow externally or to consolidate the market there. How do you feel about all of that?
Well, I feel pretty good at this conference because again, I see, you know, I remember last year where, you know, the market was totally closed. We see, you know, now we see the assets back on track, operations back on track, occupancy going up, MGR uplift, more long-term leases than short-term leases. Even, you know, our assets are gaining market share. That's what's going on. You know, when you have, you know, the brands that are closing stores and then opening stores with us and extending the footprint, what it means. It means that we are gaining market share because they are closing stores somewhere. I see the differentiation.
You can start to see, you know, that there is a better or increased differentiation in between A-rated malls and B and C malls, and you see that through somehow the reopening of the CMBS market onto the high quality malls. All this give us, you know, strong confidence in our ability to execute on our plan as announced. As I said, we have several options and determine several options, and we'll, you know, then go from there.
Several options meaning you're happy to keep the portfolio and not sell, dispose.
No. What we said is that we reduce drastically or radically our U.S. financial exposure to the U.S. market. This will do.
Okay. Thank you.
Thank you. Next question from Jonathan Kownator from Goldman Sachs. Sir, please go ahead.
Good morning. Thanks for taking my question. I just have one. Given the progress that you're making on disposal, your strong confidence in completing your European program in 2022, and the progress you're highlighting for the U.S., is there a scenario in which you could actually pay a dividend for 2022 as opposed to delaying the payment back of the dividend to 2023? Thank you.
No. We have set a clear deleveraging program, which includes the suspension of the dividend for fiscal years 2020, 2021, and 2022. We are progressing well on this deleveraging program, and we'll stick to this program.
Okay, thanks.
Thank you. Next question from Stephen Bramley-Jackson from HSBC. Sir, please go ahead.
Thank you very much and, good morning. Good set of results, good presentation. Thank you very much for that. My question is actually around the capital raise. Clearly your equity is discounting a, I suppose, what we call a back foot capital raise, although you argued that that wasn't necessary, when you took up your positions within Unibail. What I'd like to know is there a realistic scenario, not a blue sky scenario, but just a realistic scenario under which it's possible that you don't have to raise capital, as your business recovers? Or is it given that you will have to raise capital at some point in order to sort of replenish your coffers for growth? In which case, it's just a question of how much and when.
I'd just like a bit more color about capital raise potential. Thank you.
Thank you for this question. As I've stated, we have set this plan to deleverage the company, which includes four pillars, the European disposal program, the radical reduction for our exposure to the U.S., the suspension of the dividend, and the CapEx limitation. We will stick to this program. We are confident in our capacity to achieve that. Once we have completed this program, we'll resume our distribution policy. We can come back as well, reinvesting in particular on new projects. The plan is to stick strictly to the program that we've set.
Right. In terms of the order, you will complete the program even before you consider a capital raise.
Our plan is to deleveraging the program through the four pillars that we've mentioned.
Okay. Over. Thank you.
Thank you. Next question from Stuart McLean, from Macquarie. Sir, please go ahead.
Good morning. Thanks for your time. Just one question from me. Just want to think about a little bit of disconnect between the 5% reduction in asset values in the U.S. over the last six months, which was said to be the lower cash flows and also change in discount rate. Given the net initial yield didn't change, I'm assuming that the discount rate is impacted by lower growth. It would be good to understand that. Just marrying up that 5% decline with your commentary around the U.S. starting to improve quite drastically. What's the disconnect there, please?
I think the point is that the valuations are based on the appraiser's assumptions, so they've just reassessed their assumptions, and this includes the cash flow growth element. You'll see also some details on the cash flow growth that they have for the asset that has been adjusted. That's what explains this evolution. They've also had a higher discount rate which explains also this evolution. What you see also is that the net initial yield, in particular for the flagship asset, has not evolved that much. When it comes to the net potential yield incorporating the vacancy impact here, we saw an expansion of this net potential yield of around 20 basis points.
I'm just trying to wonder what's happened in valuations over the last six months when things have been appearing to optically get better, but valuers are continuing to cut their cash flow assumptions. Even though, you know, the commentary says that things are getting a lot better, you know, just really trying to understand how confident are you in the valuer's assessment of asset values today. You have to give us some idea of what occupancy assumptions are around what growth assumptions are that are sitting in those DCFs to continue to get cuts despite things turning around.
I think, we are providing with all the details that are used by the appraisers, be it the discount rate, the exit cap rate, and the long-term growth. One of the key elements that explain this difference is the fact that the NRI for the last year of the computation for the exit valuation has come down by 3% in this semester, which explains this evolution.
Okay, thank you.
Thank you. Next question from Markus Kulessa from Bank of America. Sir, please go ahead.
Hi. Thank you very much for taking my questions. First, a very quick one on Carré Sénart. I understood right, EUR 1 billion is the value of a full asset, and so the share you have sold is a EUR 0.5 billion net proportionate impact.
In fact, the asset is valued around EUR 1 billion. We have EUR 300 million of debt, so basically the net equity is EUR 700 million. You take 45% of that, and that's why you get to this EUR 280 million proceeds, which corresponds to the deleveraging impact of these disposals on Carré Sénart.
Okay, thank you. The next one on indexation, or on the like-for-like growth. You had in the full year 2021, roughly 1% indexation and the 6% negative effect on renewals and relettings. The 6%, how much of it is COVID related or temporary? I'm trying to understand how much or what these numbers could be next year in a normal world.
I think, as mentioned, this figure of minus, I mean, 7% on the leasing part is connected to A, the increase in vacancy that we have seen over the period between 2020 and 2021 overall on average. Even though there was an improvement in H2, the vacancy level has increased in the first half quite significant. Of course, this has had an effect. The second effect is due to the downlift at which we've signed, in particular short-term deals, which has a negative effect over the duration of these short-term deals, which is partly compensated by sales-based rent, but which is not part of this category, which comes in the other category.
This lagging effect will still be there in 2022 in terms of short-term deals, because they are the maturity of around two years, and therefore we will still suffer from that in 2022. The vacancy will decline over time, and we'll see an effect, a better effect in 2022, though not back to a pre-COVID level on a normalized situation. That's why we said that in 2022, we'll continue to have the lagging effect of the COVID crisis, both on the vacancy side and on the uplift and the leasing side.
Okay, thank you. Very quick one on the U.S. malls. Just on the overhead costs related to the year, to the U.S., if we would assume a full disposal of the U.S., what reduction in overhead would be linked to it? Have you given a timeline to credit agencies for the U.S. reduction?
We are discussing effectively with the rating agencies, and we're presenting them the plan. We presented them the plan that was presented to you in terms of again radical reduction of our U.S. exposure, which is in line with what we just told you. Therefore, what will be presented to the rating agencies is just what we presented to you, so just in line. That's the timeframe that they look at when it comes to the different disposals.
Before 2023, end or 2023.
Yes.
Thank you.
Thank you. Last question from Stephen Bramley-Jackson from HSBC. Sir, please go ahead.
Oh, thank you very much. Yeah, I just had a couple of very short follow-ups. The way that you are phrasing your U.S. business on the basis of sort of tidying up the portfolio or trimming the less desirable assets. You know, my sense is you're wedded to a portfolio disposal. Am I right to read it in that way? I know it would be neat and succinct to do it in that way. Is that just the expectation of how you get out of the U.S.? Or am I reading too much into your language? That's the first question.
I think that what you can read in our language is a pretty clear commitment to reduce our financial exposure to this market, and this is what we'll deliver. As I said, we have determined several options. We'll continue to streamline our regional portfolio and execute on the options that we have determined for the global reduction of our, you know, exposure to the U.S.
I mean, could it go out piecemeal or is it more likely to go out as a portfolio?
Several options. Again, we'll just reduce what you can take into account is that over 2022 and 2023, we'll have, you know, drastically reduced our exposure to the U.S.
Okay. I appreciate you're only six months into 2022, but you've got geographically a pretty broad spread business. Are you more encouraged than you were, say, at the year end for your business, as at the end of December? Are you more encouraged now based on trading and operational performance than you were then?
As I said during my presentation, the trends that we saw during H2, we see them, you know, at the start of H1. We're very confident in the fact that, again, without new COVID-19 restrictions, we'll be back to 2019 levels in 2022.
Okay. Thank you very much.
Thank you. There is no more question.
Okay. Thank you, everyone.
Thank you.