Westfield supermarket tenants perform the strongest

Supermarkets were the strongest tenant performers for Westfield this half year with retail sales up 10.1% in the six months to June 30.

Jewellery shops also performed well with sales up 4.1% over the six months.

Discount department store sales were up 3.7%, followed by food catering at 3%.

But things weren’t so peachy for cinemas with sales down 2.3% over the six months. Leisure sales were down 2.1% and department stores are down 1.4%.

Westfield currently have four projects under construction – the Miranda shopping centre is getting a $435 million renovation due to be completed by 2014 to 2015; the Mt Gravatt centre is getting a $400 million renovation due to completed in 2014; it is the design and construction contractor for AMP Capital’s $390 revamp of the Macquarie centre; and the $92 million expansion of the West Lakes centre.

Vacancies are tight with its Australian portfolio 99.5% leased and its average specialty store rent is at $1534 per square metre.

Overall its retail sales growth is at 0.9%.

The Westfield Group had a first-half statutory profit of $515 million, down from the previous year’s $800 million.

Westfield’s Peter Lowy and Steven Lowy said the results were in line with predictions.

“The results for the half year were in line with forecast, reflecting the solid performance from the portfolio, good progress on the current and future development pipeline, and the continuation of asset divestments and buyback of securities,” he said.