Scentre Group, the company that owns retail behemoth Westfield, has reported it made $174.9 million in its full-year results for 2023.
Its Funds From Operations were up 5.2 per cent year-on-year to $1,094. million.
Scentre Group CEO Elliott Rusanow said: “Our focus on creating the places and experiences that more people choose to come to, more often and for longer, has delivered strong operating performance with Net Operating Income increasing by 8.8 per cent to $1,951 million.
“Customer visitation to our 42 Westfield destinations for the year was 512 million, up 32 million or 6.7 per cent on 2022. This was underpinned by our activation program which included new strategic partnerships with leading brands Disney, Live Nation and Netball Australia.
“As a result, our business partners achieved $28.4 billion in sales, an increase of $1.7 billion or 6.4 per cent compared to 2022 and representing a record across our Westfield platform.”
Scentre Group said that its demand from business partners continued to be strong with occupancy increasing to 99.2 per cent compared to 98.9 per cent year-on-year. During the year, the Scentre Group completed 3,273 leasing deals which included 307 new brands to the portfolio. On average, specialty rent escalations increased by 7.5 per cent and new lease spreads improved to 3.1 per cent.
“During the year we continued our focus on strategic customer initiatives including our Westfield membership program. We now have over 3.8 million members, an increase of 640,000 for the year,” Mr Rusanow said.
In November 2023 the Group successfully opened the final stage of the $355 million investment in Westfield Knox in Melbourne with visitation 14 per cent higher than the comparable period in 2019. Works continue to progress as part of the Group’s expansion of Westfield Sydney on the corner of Market and Castlereagh Streets in Sydney’s CBD. The Group will introduce 6,000 square metres of luxury retail space over five levels, including the new Chanel boutique. Other brands to join the expanded Westfield Sydney include Moncler, Omega and Canada Goose.
During 2023 Scentre Group commenced the $50 million redevelopment at Westfield Mt Gravatt in Brisbane introducing Uniqlo, Harris Scarfe and a range of specialty stores to the previous department store space. These stores will continue to open throughout 2024.
At Westfield Tea Tree Plaza in Adelaide, the Group commenced a $27 million redevelopment which will introduce JB Hi-Fi, an expanded Timezone and additional dining.
The Group’s destinations are located on more than 670 hectares of land holdings primarily located in the major population and growth regions across Australia and New Zealand. This provides the Group with potential long-term strategic growth opportunities.
Outlook CEO Elliott Rusanow said: “Our strategy to create extraordinary places and experiences where people choose to spend their time, enabling more businesses and brands to connect with more customers, is expected to continue to deliver growth in earnings and distributions.
“Our Westfield destinations, strategic land holdings and our unique brand provide significant long-term growth opportunities for the Group.”
