Westfield sees sales boost at its London mall
MALL owner Westfield Group yesterday said sales at its London mall were up 17 per cent in the first half of the year compared with the same period last year.
The mall, at Shepherd’s Bush, is on track to hit its target of £800m in takings this year after being boosted by tourist numbers, the company said.
Westfield said occupancy at its US malls was increasing and its main Australian market was also holding up. However, it said it was too soon for major new investments becuse of the uncertain outlook.
“The majority of the development work that we have going forward at the moment is concentrated on Australia because there is strong demand from retailers,” Peter Lowy, Westfield’s co-group managing director said.
The Sydney-based group, which has 119 malls in the UK, Australia, the US and New Zealand, said that net profit for the six months ended 30 June was A$961m (£554.5m) compared with a net loss of A$708m a year earlier.
It was the first time Westfield has posted a profit since the first half of 2008, as retailers inside its malls experienced lower sales due to the recession.