Westfield owner Scentre Group has reported its financial results for the 12 months to 31 December 2023, making $174.9 million in profit last year.
Business partners reported $28.4 billion in sales, an increase of $1.7 billion – or 6.4% – compared to 2022.
Funds From Operations were up 5.2% on the previous year to $1.094.2 billion. Distributions for the period are $860.6 million (16.60 cents per security), up 5.4% and above guidance.
Statutory Profit for the period was $174.9 million. This includes an unrealised property valuation decrease of $1.017 billion.
The Group’s portfolio was valued at $34.3 billion. Scentre Group now has over 3.8 million members, an increase of 640,000 for the year.
The Group collected $2.723 billion 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.
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 billion.
“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.”
Looking ahead, the Group expects FFO to be in the range of 21.75 to 22.25 cents per security for 2024, representing 3.0% to 5.4% growth for the year.
Distributions are expected to be at least 17.20 cents per security for 2024, representing at least 3.6% growth for the year.
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.”
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