LONDON (Reuters) - Shopping centre landlord Hammerson (>> Hammerson plc) had a better 2012 than rival Intu Properties (>> Intu Properties PLC), driven by the strong performance of its designer outlet villages and superior development pipeline.

Net asset value at Hammerson was up 2.3 percent to 5.42 pounds per share at the end of 2012 versus a 1 pence rise to 392p at Intu, the company said on Friday.

Its Value Retail arm, which includes the Bicester Village designer outlet centre in central England, rose in value by 18 percent.

Hammerson, whose malls include the Bullring in Birmingham, Brent Cross in London and Italie 2 in Paris, trades at a discount to net asset value of about seven percent versus 12 percent at Intu.

"Intu appears to be building in order to keep the rent roll up while Hammerson's pipeline has some meaningful potential growth," said Investec analyst John Cahill.

The company sold the bulk of its London offices properties in June to Canadian-American developer Brookfield (>> Brookfield Office Properties Inc.) to focus on retail. It paid 254.5 million pounds for a portfolio of British retail parks in October.

(Reporting by Tom Bill; Editing by David Cowell)