REAL ESTATE – AUSTRALIA – RETAIL

JB Hi-Fi tunes in to smaller stores

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Original article by Eli Greenblat
The Australian – Page: 17 & 20 : 26-Nov-19

Consumer electronics retailer JB Hi-Fi will open its first ‘Express’ store in Melbourne’s Southbank precinct on 26 November. CEO Richard Murray says the 68sq m store will target cash and carry buyers who want to make small purchases. JB Hi-Fi is capitalising on the growing trend toward small-format retail stores, with plans to open more stores in airports and office towers that are similar in size to the 250sq outlet at Sydney Airport’s international terminal. Murray says JB Hi-Fi is looking at opening additional stores at airports.

CORPORATES
JB HI-FI LIMITED – ASX JBH, COLES GROUP LIMITED – ASX COL, WOOLWORTHS GROUP LIMITED – ASX WOW, DAVID JONES LIMITED

Vicinity write-down hints at retail cycle’s turn: Citi

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Original article by Nick Lenaghan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 32 : 29-Jan-19

Shopping centre landlord Vicinity Centres advised in the week ending 25 January that it had reduced the value of its portfolio by $37 million. Although the write-down represented only a 0.2 per cent reduction in the value of Vicinity’s portfolio, Citi analysts have heralded it as being "symbolically significant" in a research note. Citi has stated that retail is its least preferred property option, and that recent news regarding the retail property sector suggests that conditions are declining more quickly than had previously been thought.

CORPORATES
VICINITY CENTRES – ASX VCX, CITIGROUP PTY LTD, SCENTRE GROUP – ASX SCG, GOODMAN GROUP – ASX GMG

Retail investment rebounds to $2.4b

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Original article by Larry Schlesinger
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 29 : 10-Jul-18

Retail real estate investment in Australia rose from just $751m in the March 2018 quarter to $2.4bn in the June quarter, according to Cushman & Wakefield. Major deals in the second quarter included the sale of a 50 per cent stake in the Grande Plaza Shopping Centre in Brisbane to Invesco for $215 million. Cushman & Wakefield expects sales activity in the sector to remain strong in the second half of 2018.

CORPORATES
CUSHMAN AND WAKEFIELD PTY LTD, CANADA PENSION PLAN INVESTMENT BOARD, AUSTRALIA. FUTURE FUND MANAGEMENT AGENCY, INVESCO ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED, QIC LIMITED, VICINITY CENTRES – ASX VCX, STOCKLAND – ASX SGP, RAM

Stockland is stacking up solar centres

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Original article by Nick Lenaghan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 33 : 12-Sep-17

Real estate developer Stockland will spend $A23.5 million on the installation of 39,000 solar panels on the roofs of 10 of its shopping centres. The panels will generate 17.2 GWh of electricity each year. Further down the track, MD Mark Steinert hopes that if Stockland can combine its solar panels with battery storage technologies, it could be in a position where it can sell electricity into the national grid.

CORPORATES
STOCKLAND – ASX SGP, TESLA INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIAN ENERGY MARKET OPERATOR LIMITED, GPT GROUP – ASX GPT

Be cautious about retail landlords, Citi warns clients

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Original article by Nick Lenaghan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 37 : 8-Aug-17

Shares in listed retail property trusts such as Vicinity Centres, Scentre Group and Westfield Corporation have struggled recently, due to concern that their tenants will be damaged by the arrival of Amazon in Australia. However, the general consensus of analysts is that retail real estate investment trusts will post earnings growth of five per cent for 2018. Citigroup is less optimistic than some of its peers, predicting growth of just 3.5 per cent.

CORPORATES
VICINITY CENTRES – ASX VCX, SCENTRE GROUP – ASX SCG, WESTFIELD CORPORATION – ASX WFD, AMAZON.COM INCORPORATED, CITIGROUP PTY LTD, BUNNINGS GROUP LIMITED, CHARTER HALL RETAIL REIT – ASX CQR, SHOPPING CENTRES AUSTRALASIA PROPERTY GROUP – ASX SCP, CLSA AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, GOODMAN GROUP – ASX GMG, STOCKLAND – ASX SGP, INVESTA OFFICE FUND – ASX IOF, MIRVAC GROUP – ASX MGR, BWP TRUST – ASX BWP

Retail property sentiment dips

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Original article by Elizabeth Redman
The Australian – Page: 23 : 28-Jul-17

National Australia Bank’s latest survey of the commercial property sector has revealed that sentiment is at its least optimistic in the retail property segment. Sentiment in that category is at its lowest since the end of 2014, in part due to the looming arrival of Amazon. Sentiment towards CBD hotels is also down, but sentiment in the office and industrial segments rose. Looking at individual states, sentiment has improved in Victoria, Queensland and Western Australia, but declined in New South Wales.

CORPORATES
NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, AMAZON.COM INCORPORATED

CLSA slaps a buy on listed retail landlords

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Original article by Matthew Cranston
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 28 : 20-Jul-17

Shares in Australian-listed real estate investment trusts have fallen sharply in 2017, with Westfield Corporation and Vicinity Centres shedding 16.7 per cent and 13.7 per cent respectively. The A-REIT sector has fallen by about 10 per cent in the last month, but Sholto Maconochie of CLSA is upbeat about the outlook for the sector, and retail property trusts in particular. CLSA favours Scentre Group and Vicinity Centres, and the firm’s rating on the latter has been upgraded to "outperform".

CORPORATES
WESTFIELD CORPORATION – ASX WFD, VICINITY CENTRES – ASX VCX, SCENTRE GROUP – ASX SCG, CLSA AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, CBRE PTY LTD, CHADSTONE SHOPPING CENTRE, DEXUS PROPERTY GROUP – ASX DXS, INVESTA OFFICE FUND – ASX IOF

Property price growth set to halve

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Original article by Matthew Cranston, Michael Bleby
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 30 : 13-Jul-17

A new survey of property industry professionals shows that most expect a slowdown in residential property price growth in the next 12 months. The ANZ/Property Council of Australia index of house price growth expectations has fallen from 20.2 points to 4.3 points. The anticipated slowdown is particularly acute in Sydney, with house price growth expectations falling from 29.6 points to 1.7 points. The survey also shows that property professionals are bearish about the outlook for capital growth in the retail property sector.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, PROPERTY COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, CORELOGIC AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, MOODY’S ANALYTICS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, HSBC AUSTRALIA HOLDINGS PTY LTD, BIS SHRAPNEL PTY LTD, RAY WHITE GROUP, AVENTUS PROPERTY GROUP PTY LTD, QUINTESSENTIAL EQUITY PTY LTD, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY

‘Oversold’ retail trusts set to rebound

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Original article by Larry Schlesinger
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 31 : 3-Jul-17

Vicinity Centres, Scentre Group and Westfield Corporation all returned negative returns of at least 10 per cent in the year to 30 June 2017. This made them the worst performing stocks in the S&P/ASX 200-A REIT index, but fund managers believe that this now makes them good value, and expect them to perform much better in 2017-18. Fund managers contend that the three stocks – Australia’s biggest shopping centre owners – were oversold because of the perception that their tenants will be damaged by the arrival of Amazon in Australia.

CORPORATES
VICINITY CENTRES – ASX VCX, SCENTRE GROUP – ASX SCG, WESTFIELD CORPORATION – ASX WFD, AMAZON.COM INCORPORATED, SG HISCOCK AND COMPANY LIMITED, AMP CAPITAL INVESTORS LIMITED, WHOLE FOODS MARKET INCORPORATED, JP MORGAN AUSTRALIA LIMITED

We kick out 15 per cent of tenants: Scentre CEO

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Original article by Larry Schlesinger
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 12 : 29-Sep-16

Scentre Group recognises the importance of data analytics in managing tenancies. CEO Peter Allen told The "Australian Financial Review" Retail Summit in Melbourne on 28 September 2016 that 15 per cent of its tenants leave shopping centres when their leases expire. They are either unable to fulfil Scentre’s requirements or cannot afford the rent.

CORPORATES
SCENTRE GROUP – ASX SCG, MYER HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX MYR, DAVID JONES LIMITED