Retail property firm Stockland has reported a rise in net income and sales growth across its Australian retail centres for the half year 2012.
The figures, for the half year ending December 31, 2011, revealed an actual net income on Stockland's commercial property of six per cent, and comparable net income growth of 2.3 per cent, despite a drop in overall profit for the company.
Stautory profit overall for Stockland was down 28 per cent, to $307.6 million, impacted by weaker demand in the office and industrial sector of the business, a “difficult property market and economic conditions”.
However, sales growth for commercial property, including shopping centres, outperformed the market with comparable moving annual turnover growth of 3.5 per cent. Portfolio occupancy in retail hubs was also on a high at 99.6 per cent.
In a statement to the Australian Securities Exchange, Stockland said “the outperformance of our retail centres in challenging conditions demonstrates the effectiveness of our focus on providing day-to-day convenience and affordability in good locations”.
The company also said it will continue to expand its retail empire via a $2.4 billion retail development pipeline. This includes three recently completed developments – Rockhampton, Merrylands and North Shore. Other major developments, such as Shelharbour and Townsville, are still underway.
At 31 December 2011 the Stockland retail property portfolio comprised 41 retail centres valued at $4.8 billion. This includes more than 2,600 tenants, with centres generating in excess of $5.4 billion in retail sales per annum. Two-thirds of Stockland's retail centres are now in growing regional areas.