SHOPPING CENTRES – AUSTRALIA

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

Shopping centres will survive peak Amazon

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Original article by Vesna Poljak
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 & 24 : 13-Nov-17

The Australian real estate investment trust sector has responded more proactively to the threat posed to retail trade by Amazon than many have given it credit for, according to Pete Davidson of BT Investment Management. REIT stocks currently favoured by BTIM include Westfield, Mirvac and Charter Hall, along with Arena and Folkestone, which both have interests in childcare centres. Other stocks that BTIM like include Precinct Properties and Vital Healthcare.

CORPORATES
AMAZON.COM INCORPORATED, BT INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT LIMITED – ASX BTT, WESTFIELD CORPORATION – ASX WFD, MIRVAC GROUP – ASX MGR, CHARTER HALL GROUP – ASX CHC, ARENA REIT – ASX ARF, FOLKESTONE LIMITED – ASX FLK, PRECINCT PROPERTIES, VITAL HEALTHCARE PROPERTY TRUST, MYER HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX MYR, SCENTRE GROUP – ASX SCG, MITCHELL MONTAGU

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

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

‘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

Customers empty wallets in top malls

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Original article by Robert Harley
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 33 : 18-Mar-16

Australian consumers like to shop in big shopping centres. The 2015 annual "Big Guns" survey by "Shopping Centre News" shows that Chadstone in Melbourne recorded retail spending of more than $A1.4 billion in 2015. Michael Lloyd, of "Shopping Centre News", expects all the biggest 10 centres to generate turnover in excess of $A1 billion by 2020.

CORPORATES
GANDEL GROUP HOLDINGS LIMITED, VICINITY CENTRES – ASX VCX, SCENTRE GROUP – ASX SCG, MIRVAC GROUP – ASX MGR, WESTFIELD CORPORATION – ASX WFD

Four malls to go in Vicinity sale

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Original article by Mercedes Ruehl, Nick Lenaghan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 32 : 3-Feb-16

JLL will market four shopping centres on behalf of Australian-listed Vicinity Centres, which revealed plans for up to $A1bn of asset sales in late 2015. The properties to be sold are the Forest Hill Chase and Brimbank shopping centres in Victoria and the Clifford Gardens and Toombul shopping centres in Queensland. Vicinity boasts some $A23 billion worth of assets under management.

CORPORATES
VICINITY CENTRES – ASX VCX, JONES LANG LASALLE AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, FOREST HILL CHASE, BRIMBANK SHOPPING CENTRE, CLIFFORD GARDENS SHOPPING CENTRE, TOOMBUL SHOPPING CENTRE, COLES SUPERMARKETS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, WOOLWORTHS LIMITED – ASX WOW, BIG W DISCOUNT STORES, KMART AUSTRALIA LIMITED, SCENTRE GROUP – ASX SCG, THE BLACKSTONE GROUP LP, CHALLENGER LIMITED – ASX CGF, NOVION PROPERTY GROUP