Braehead shopping centre owner Intu has warned it could go bust if it cannot raise further funds as it slumped to a £2 billion annual loss.

Intu Properties saw losses widen from £1.2 billion in 2018 and was forced to write down the value of its shopping centre sites and properties by £1.9 billion after recent retail sector woes.

It revealed in results there was a "material uncertainty" over its ability to continue as a going concern as it faces a cash crunch, having recently been forced to abandon plans to raise up to £1.5 billion to pay down debts.

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Intu said it had other options, such as alternative capital structures and selling off more assets.

The group - which owns nine of the UK's top 20 shopping centres - is also looking to secure some breathing space from its lenders, by negotiating covenant waivers.

Chief executive Matthew Roberts said: "In the short term, fixing the balance sheet is our top priority.

"We have options including alternative capital structures and further disposals to provide liquidity, and will seek to negotiate covenant waivers where appropriate," he said.

He added: "We are focusing all our energies on moving the business forward."

Intu pulled its planned cash call last week, blaming market uncertainty, saying investors were put off by volatility in equity markets and the retail property investment market.

It came as a major blow for the group, which had hoped the funds could help reduce the firm's £4.5 billion debt mountain.

The firm's full-year results showed like-for-like rental income tumbled by 9.1% in 2019 - half of which was caused by the surge in retail rescue deals and administrations.

Last year saw soaring levels of retail company voluntary arrangements, with many struggling chains demanding lower rents and shutting stores to survive.

Cineworld has said the spread of Covid-19 could make it unable to pay its debts in a worst-case scenario.

It said that while it has so far seen "minimal impact" from the outbreak, in an extreme and "unlikely" situation it could lose up to three months of revenues.

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The company saw its share price plunge further on Thursday morning, after slipping in recent weeks amid fears the virus would see customers shun cinemas or result in closures.

Mooky Greidinger, chief executive officer of Cineworld Group, said that if the situation worsens, the firm could postpone capital expenditure or reduce costs in order to reduce the impact.

The cinema chain has been put under pressure by the postponement of major cinema releases such as the new James Bond movie, which had been moved back to November.

Nevertheless, Cineworld said it is "excited for upcoming films in 2020" such as Black Widow, Wonder Woman 1984, and Top Gun Maverick.

The update came as Cineworld reported a decline in profits in 2019 despite a rise in revenues and admissions.

The cinema chain saw statutory pre-tax profits fall 39.1% to 212.3 million US dollars (£165.6 million) on the back of higher one-off costs.

Sales increased by 6.1% to 4.37 billion dollars (£3.4 billion) after admissions rose to 275 million for the year, from 272.6 million in 2018.

Mr Greidinger said: "Cineworld has delivered a solid set of full-year 2019 results despite 2018 being a very strong comparative period.

"We are closely monitoring the evolution of Covid-19 and, so far, we have seen minimal impact on our business.

"However, there can be no certainty on its future impact on our activities, hence we are taking measures to ensure that we are prepared for all possible eventualities."

Shares in the company fell 31.8% to 60.2p in early trading on Thursday.

Investors in the flagship fund formerly run by City star Neil Woodford have been told to expect another multimillion-pound payout, as its managers sold off another fifth of its assets.

Link Fund Solutions said it has managed to find buyers for just under £142 million of assets, which will be returned to investors. It is 19.9% of what was left in the fund on March 10.

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Investors have been told to expect a letter in the post detailing how much they will get in the new distribution after March 20.

The payment is set to hit their bank accounts on March 25.

Link said in a letter to investors: "It is intended that further capital distributions will be made as and when suitable amounts of cash have been raised from the sale of the remaining assets of the fund.

"At this stage we are unable to advise you of the exact timing and amount of these future capital distributions as this is dependent upon the sale of the fund's assets."

It comes just over a month since investors in the LF Equity Income Fund - formerly Woodford Equity Income Fund - got their first £2.1 billion payout. It brings the total paid back to just over £2.3 billion.

Woodford's fund was thrown into turmoil last year as investors tried to cash out at a rate that the former City star could not keep up with.

He had invested much of the cash the investors had entrusted to him in illiquid assets. These assets, such as shares in companies that are not publicly traded, are difficult to sell off at short notice without taking a big discount.

This meant that when investors came knocking and asked for their cash back, he was unable to sell off assets fast enough. As a result the fund was suspended.