117 million people (+ 4.5%) visited the SES malls in Austria, Slovenia, Italy, Croatia, Hungary and the Czech Republic last year. 490 new store contracts and extensions also brought new concepts to the regions. An important milestone for the future was set with a strategic cooperation for health parks.
SES Spar European Shopping Centers currently manages a total of over 855,000 sq m of retail space with around 1,900 stores in 28 shopping malls, two retail parks and one managed shopping street. As of 31.12.2024, the company employed 435 people.
“In times of change, we place particular value on the right mix of continuity, resilience and innovation,” says Christoph Andexlinger, CEO of SES Spar European Shopping Centers. “The development of our visitor frequency shows that we succeeded very well again last year because we always have one thing in focus: Our malls and their offerings must be relevant to as many people as possible in their daily lives.”
Sales increase of 3.5% in the Austrian SES malls
SES is the market leader for large-scale shopping locations in Austria. These developed very well with sales growth of 3.5% to over 2 billion euros. SES operates 16 shopping malls in Austria, a retail park and a shopping street it manages in Vienna’s Seestadt Aspern.
Portfolio expanded by a Hotel
In 2024, SES opened its first hotel in Lienz/East Tyrol, which went into operation successfully with the official opening ceremony in June 2024. After almost two years of construction, a modern and contemporary city hotel was created in the center of Lienz, which is operated by the Tyrolean hotelier family Ultsch under the “Harry’s home” brand. SES acts as project developer and 50 percent owner as part of a joint venture. A total of 17 million euros was invested in the hotel on the 1,900 sq m site.
490 New Lease Agreements and Extensions
SES opened numerous new stores from various sectors in its centers in 2024, including newly established partners who are under contract with the SES Group for the first time. A total of 490 leases and lease extensions were concluded for around 146,000 sq m in the 31 shopping locations. This corresponds to around one sixth of the total leasable space in the SES portfolio. For example, the Inditex Group opened the first Pull&Bear location for Salzburg in fall 2024 at EUROPARK Salzburg. New magnet businesses have also been secured for the long term, such as Peek&Cloppenburg for CITYPARK Graz.
Positive Development also in Slovenia, Italy, Hungary and the Czech Republic
In addition to Austria, SES is also the market leader for large-scale shopping malls in Slovenia and was able to increase sales at its five locations there to over 748 million euros (+6%).
Sales at the four SES shopping malls in northern Italy amounted to just under 300 million euros in the previous year. Sales at the two Hungarian locations KORZÓ Nyíregyháza and S-PARK Kaposvár increased by a total of 11%. The Czech mall EUROPARK Prague even increased its store sales by a remarkable 27% in 2024.
Strong Measures taken for Climate Protection and Energy Efficiency
In 2024, SES invested 52 million euros in maintenance and energy-reducing measures in the centers and in the quality of stay in the malls. For example, underground car parks and thermal roof renovations were carried out, heating and cooling systems were replaced with more efficient ones, heat pumps for groundwater use were installed and the conversion to energy-saving LED technology was systematically continued. (2023: 46 million euros)
SES also operates e-charging stations with currently around 200 charging points at all locations in Austria, Italy and Slovenia and is successively upgrading these in terms of both number and charging capacity. Customers charge with 100% green electricity.
Refurbishment and Expansion
In Croatia, construction work began in 2024 on the complete refurbishment and expansion of the KING CROSS shopping mall in Zagreb from 35,000 to 38,300 sq m of leasable space. The existing mall area will be modernized and store areas adapted. The location will have a new central square and highly attractive catering areas with outdoor areas. As with all SES projects, great importance is attached to high-quality workmanship, sophisticated architecture, state-of-the-art technologies and enrichment of the store mix. Completion is scheduled for 2026.
Preparations for the start of construction of the S-Park in the city center of Varaždin (Croatia) on the site of a former textile factory continued in 2024. The planned completion date is 2027. Moreover, preparations also continued for the expansion of EUROPARK Salzburg in 2024, where SES will announce the schedule for the expansion this year.
“Last year, the SES team once again succeeded in continuing the positive development of our shopping destinations and remaining very successful despite a challenging economic environment,” adds Marcus Wild, SPAR Real Estate Board Member and SES Supervisory Board Chairman. “This also guarantees that SES is a reliable partner, especially for small and medium-sized companies from the retail, hospitality and service sectors.”
