Retail Media revenues went up +24.7% with Westfield Rise on track to deliver 75 million Euro European 2024 net margin target. Like-for-like EBITDA went up +5.8%. URW reports an adjusted recurring EPS of 5.14 Eurp, which is in line with FY-2024 guidance. The company completed or secured 0.3 billion Euro of disposal transactions or despite challenging investment market.
H1-2024 in review:
- Tenant sales up +4.2% and footfall up +2.9% vs. H1-2023
- 217 million Euro of Minimum Guaranteed Rent (MGR), with +7.4% uplift on top of indexed passing rents, including +11.9% on long-term deals
- Shopping Centre vacancy at 5.5%, -80 bps improvement vs. H1-2023 and +10 bps vs. FY-2023 • Shopping Centre Net Rental Income at 1,065 million Euro, up +5.3% 3 on a like-for-like basis
- Offices & Others Net Rental Income of 50 million Euro, up +23.3% on a like-for-like basis, thanks to Trinity now fully let
- Convention & Exhibition Net Operating Income of 109 million Euro, up +53.2%, benefitting from biennal and triennial show seasonality and early positive impact of the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris and up +25.4% on a like-for-like basis
- EBITDA of 1,195 million Euro, up +5.8% on a like-for-like basis compared to last year
- 0.3 billion Euro of disposal transactions2 completed or secured, with €1.0 Bn of assets currently under active discussions
- Net Debt to EBITDA at 9.3x, stable compared to FY-2023
- More than 36 months of liquidity secured with 12.7 billion Euro, including 4.6 billion Euro of cash on hand
- Recurring net result of +763.7 million Euro and IFRS net result of +71.7 million Euro
Commenting on the results, Jean-Marie Tritant, Chief Executive Officer, said: “H1 was characterised by strong operating performance across all activities. In retail, this meant higher year-on-year footfall and tenant sales – outperforming National Sales Indices in the US and Europe – as well as continued robust leasing activity.
Our Convention and Exhibition business delivered record results thanks to the early impact of the Olympic Games in Paris, where Viparis venues are hosting a number of competitions and operational hubs. Our Offices business also benefitted from the leasing progress of the Trinity tower in Paris La Défense.
H1 was a strong period for retail media with revenues up significantly. We are on track to meet our 2024 net margin target thanks to our in-mall network that now totals almost 1,800 screens in Europe. Following the announcement of significant cost overruns at Westfield Hamburg-Überseequartier, we have taken a number of initial actions and mitigation measures, and are working towards the retail opening on October 17, 2024. Despite challenging investment market conditions, we have secured around 300 million Euro in disposals, and are currently in active discussions on 1 billion Euro of assets. We reconfirm our 2024 AREPS and distribution guidance.”
