Stockland’s Town Centre portfolio has recorded a total comparable sales lift of 2.8% in the first quarter of FY24 compared to the same time last year.
Stockland’s largest product category is apparel, hitting a moving annual total (MAT) of $476 million for the quarter. This was down 7.1% on the same corresponding period last year, but up 2.2% on MAT.
The strongest store category was supermarkets, up 5.1%, while specialties and mini majors dropped by 1.3% and 0.9% respectively.
The overall result was reportedly driven by sales in essentials-based categories, with both department stores and discount department stores seeing the second-strongest rise in comparable sales of just 0.7%.
More than 70% of sales are now weighted to essentials-based categories.
“For the September quarter, total comparable sales grew by 2.8%, while comparable specialty sales declined by 1.3%, with the cumulative effect of successive interest rate increases reflected in a decline in discretionary categories,” Stockland reported.
“Sales growth for essentials categories to which our portfolio is heavily skewed, such as food retail and food catering, remain positive.”
Total comparable sales on a MAT basis grew by 7.6%, with department stores and discount department stores seeing the strongest growth of 6.2%, followed by supermarkets at 5.7%, specialties at 5.2% and mini majors at 3%.
Stockland CEO and MD Tarun Gupta said the skew towards essentials comes against a backdrop of increasing cost-of-living pressures.
The property management firm added that leasing spreads across its town centres have remained positive over the quarter and averaged 3% for the financial year to date, with portfolio occupancy at 99.3%.