Scentre Group has released its results for the 12 months to 31 December 2023 with Funds From Operations (FFO) of $1,094.2 million, up 5.2% on the previous year. Statutory Profit for the period was $174.9 million and includes an unrealised property valuation decrease of $1,017.1 million. The Group’s portfolio is valued at $34.3 billion at 31 December 2023.

Scentre Group CEO Elliott Rusanow said: “Our focus on creating the places and experiences that more people choose to come to, more often and for longer, has delivered strong operating performance with Net Operating Income increasing by 8.8% to $1,951 million.

“Customer visitation to our 42 Westfield destinations for the year was 512 million, up 32 million or 6.7% on 2022. This was underpinned by our activation program which included new strategic partnerships with leading brands Disney, Live Nation and Netball Australia.

“As a result, our business partners achieved $28.4 billion in sales, an increase of $1.7 billion or 6.4% compared to 2022 and representing a record across our Westfield platform.

“Demand from business partners continues to be strong with occupancy increasing to 99.2% at 31 December 2023 compared to 98.9% at 31 December 2022. During the year the Group completed 3,273 leasing deals which included 307 new brands to the portfolio.

“On average, specialty rent escalations increased by 7.5% and new lease spreads improved to +3.1%.”

The Group collected $2,723 million of gross rent during the year, an increase of $131 million compared to 2022 and equivalent to 103% of gross rental billings for the period.

“During the year we continued our focus on strategic customer initiatives including our Westfield membership program. We now have over 3.8 million members, an increase of 640,000 for the year,” Rusanow said.

In November 2023 the Group successfully opened the final stage of the $355 million investment in Westfield Knox in Melbourne with visitation 14% higher than the comparable period in 2019.

Works continue to progress as part of the Group’s expansion of Westfield Sydney on the corner of Market and Castlereagh Streets in Sydney’s CBD. The Group will introduce 6,000m2 of luxury retail space over five levels, including the new Chanel boutique. Other brands to join the expanded Westfield Sydney include Moncler, Omega and Canada Goose.

During 2023 the Group commenced the $50 million redevelopment at Westfield Mt Gravatt in Brisbane introducing Uniqlo, Harris Scarfe and a range of specialty stores to the previous department store space. These stores will continue to open throughout 2024.

At Westfield Tea Tree Plaza in Adelaide, the Group commenced a $27 million redevelopment which will introduce JB Hi-Fi, an expanded Timezone and additional dining.

“We continue to progress works on our $4.0 billion pipeline of future retail development opportunities,” Rusanow said.

“Our strategy to create extraordinary places and experiences where people choose to spend their time, enabling more businesses and brands to connect with more customers, is expected to continue to deliver growth in earnings and distributions.

“Our Westfield destinations, strategic land holdings and our unique brand provide significant long-term growth opportunities for the Group,” he said.