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'Clothing will redefine malls'

10 Nov 2014

Shopping centres should be anchored by clothing outlets to be more successful‚ as opposed to food stores‚ as South Africans embrace the slew of global fashion brands flooding the country‚ property doyen Marc Wainer said on Thursday, 6 November 2014.

Wainer‚ chairman of Redefine Properties (RDF)‚ was speaking at the release of the property company's financial results for the year to August‚ in which the group achieved 8.5% distribution growth.

"The brands that have entered SA so far are only a smidgen of what is on offer in Europe and the US. South Africans are excited about global brands and that will encourage more of them to enter‚" he said.

Redefine owns a highly diversified portfolio of retail centres‚ offices and a relatively small portion of industrial properties.

Its shopping centres include Maynard Mall in the Western Cape‚ Park Meadows in Gauteng and Olivedale Shopping Centre‚ also in Gauteng.

International entrants

Wainer said even in smaller centres‚ clothing brands from abroad were gaining in popularity.

"We believe fashion chains should now be the anchors of malls. They are also cheaper to set up in malls‚" he said.

Over the past two years‚ brands including the UK's Top Shop‚ the US's Forever 21‚ Spain's Zara and Australia's Cotton On‚ have all opened in SA.

Redefining growth

Redefine announced a distribution of 38.14c a share for the second half of 2014. This‚ combined with the first-half distribution of 36.4c a share resulted in growth of 8.5% on a full-year basis‚ delivering a performance ahead of the market guidance.

Redefine also introduced a distribution reinvestment option during the financial year.

The group's property income-earning asset base was valued at R52bn‚ a record for the fund.

"Redefine's results are underpinned by a solid performance from our core property portfolio‚ bolstered by the acquisitions we made during the previous financial year‚" CEO Andrew Konig said.

"Our international operations also made a strong contribution to this set of results. Redefine's net asset value increased by 12.1% to R9.76 and‚ importantly‚ our robust balance sheet has grown significantly over the past year‚" he said.

Management restructure

Redefine has recently restructured its senior management‚ with former financial director Konig replacing Wainer as CEO. Leon Kok‚ the former chief operating officer of hospitality and gaming group Peermont Global‚ replaced Konig as financial director.

Konig said he was concerned that economic growth would come under further pressure next year‚ putting strain on offices in the country. SA's consumers have managed to shop fervently despite debt pressure and a rising cost of living but they would also come under pressure.

"We can only see 1.5% to 2% growth each year for the next few years‚" he said.

Evan Robins of Old Mutual Investment Group said the results were "pleasing" to the market. "It was a decent distribution with impressive net asset value growth."

Source: BDpro via I-Net Bridge

Source: I-Net Bridge

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