Liberty Two Degrees encouraged by return of its mall shoppers

LIBERTY Two Degrees (L2D), the owner of iconic South African shopping malls including Sandton City, Liberty Midlands Mall and Melrose Arch, said yesterday that there had been an ahead-of-market improvement in key operational indicators when compared with 2019.

Larger precinct-focused shaping centres were particularly hard-hit through the Covid-19 pandemic as shoppers rather opted to shop at smaller centres closer to their homes, but foot-counts have steadily improved since the easing of Covid-related restrictions.

L2D chief executive Amelia Beattie said yesterday that the easing of lockdown restrictions and the move towards a post-pandemic operating environment was encouraging as retailers and consumers gain confidence.

“As we navigate the uncertainties of global proportions that impact our domestic economy and business, we remain committed to the goals we have set in future-proofing our business.

“We continue to drive value and positive recovery in all that we do,” she said in an operational update yesterday.

Key operational indicators to improve compared with pre-Covid 2019, included a 14.6 percent increase in the foot-count in April. Sandton City attracted almost 17 million customers in 2021 and had already seen 6.9 million customers in 2022 up to April, said Beattie.

Retail occupancies remained strong at 97.3 percent, while turnover growth was positive at 13.6 percent for the first quarter of 2022 compared with 2019’s first quarter.

“Despite increasing pressure on household discretionary spend, the L2D portfolio recovered ahead of the market when comparing the StatsSA annual retail sales up to March 2022,” she said.

Turnover for the first three months of 2022 was higher than the corresponding months over the past three years, and if the annual turnover up to March 2022 was considered, the portfolio was 2.1 percent ahead of the 12 months leading up to the onset of the lockdown periods.

Occupancy was in line with preCovid levels at 97.3 percent.

The office portfolio had, however, not seen the same recovery and its occupancy rate was 88.1 percent in April. Sandton City attracted almost 17 million customers in 2021 and had already seen 6.9 million customers visit the mall in 2022 up to April.