Scentre Group

Last updated

Scentre Group Limited
Company type Public
ASX:  SCG
Industry Real estate development
Shopping centre management
Predecessor Westfield Group
Founded2014;10 years ago (2014)
(as a spin off from Westfield Development Corporation founded 1960), listed on the Sydney Stock Exchange)
Headquarters85 Castlereagh Street,
Sydney
,
Australia
Area served
 Australia
New Zealand
Key people
Ilana Atlas (Chair) [1]
Elliott Rusanow (CEO) [1]
Total assets A$40.9 billion (2015) [2]
Number of employees
2,964 (2024) [3]
Website www.scentregroup.com

Scentre GroupLimited is a shopping centre company with retail destinations operating under the Westfield brand in Australia and New Zealand. The corporation undertakes ownership, development, design, construction, funds/asset management, property management, leasing, and marketing activities for its centres. The group was created in June 2014 when the Westfield Group separated its American and European businesses from its operations in Australia and New Zealand. [4] The company is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange and had a shopping centre portfolio that includes investment interests in 42 [5] shopping centres across Australia and New Zealand in 2019, encompassing around 12,544 retail outlets and total assets under management in excess of A$39.4 billion in 2015. [2]

Contents

History

Scentre Group has origins in the western suburbs of Sydney. The first development was named "Westfield Place", and opened in July 1959 in Blacktown. [6] The name Westfield is derived from "west" related to the West-Sydney location, and "field" due to having located on subdivided farmland. John Saunders and Frank Lowy opened the centre. [6]

The company was floated on the Australian Stock Exchange in 1960 and built another five centres in New South Wales before expanding into Victoria and Queensland in 1966–67. [7]

The expansion into the United States began with the purchase of Trumbull Shopping Park in Connecticut in 1977, and was followed by three centres in California, Michigan, and Connecticut in 1980 and three centres in California, New Jersey and Long Island, New York in 1986. [7] In 1994, Westfield joined together with General Growth and Whitehall Real Estate to purchase 19 centres for US$1 billion. The company built considerable holdings on the east coast and in California before expanding in the Mid-West. By 2005, the company owned centres in 15 US states. [7]

In the 1990s, Westfield began a major expansion to New Zealand, where it mostly bought existing shopping centres of the Fletchers Company, and progressively rebranded them. Only in 2007, with Westfield Albany, did the company open a fully new centre in the country. [8]

On 9 May 2006, Westfield announced the sale of eight United States shopping centres which it deemed to fit outside its strategic plan, to Centro Properties Group. [9]

In April 2012, it was announced that Westfield Group would sell seven 'non-core' property assets to Starwood Capital Group for A$1 billion and one other property to an undisclosed buyer for A$147 million. The funds would be used to repay debt and invest in businesses offering higher return. The sales were expected completed by November 2013. [10]

In June 2014, Westfield Group, one of the world's largest shopping centre companies, restructured to create two, new independent companies: Scentre Group and Westfield Corporation. Scentre Group was created to own and manage the company's interests in Australia and New Zealand. Westfield Corporation owns and manages Westfield shopping centres in the United States, United Kingdom, and Europe. Although Westfield Group has evolved into two separate companies, the consumer branding remained the same for Scentre Group's shopping centre portfolio. [11]

In October 2015, Frank Lowy stepped down as the chairman of Scentre Group following 55 years in charge. [12]

Footfall at the group's shopping centres rose 9.8% to 314 million in 2023 in the first half of the year after adding new entertainment in collaboration with Disney and Netball Australia. Centres are 99% occupied, with 1,576 new leases signed in the half year. [13]

On the afternoon of 13 April 2024, a man entered Westfield Bondi Junction in Sydney and stabbed at least 18 people, killing 5 female patrons and a male centre security guard. The incident sent the centre into lockdown and shoppers to take cover in stores. A lone police officer arrived and fatally shot the perpetrator. [14]

The company's figures for 2023: operating funds (FFO) of $1,094.2 million and profit of $174.9 million. The group's portfolio is valued at $34.3bn and partner sales totalled a record $28.4bn (up 6.4% on 2022). [15]

Current operations

Scentre Group currently has interests in total assets worth A$38.6 billion, owning 42 [5] shopping centres in Australia and New Zealand − with over 3.8 million square metres of retail space.

Australia

Having been established in Australia, with its original premises being at Blacktown, the Scentre Group continues to operate a large number of shopping centres in Australia under the Westfield brand.[ citation needed ]

New Zealand

Westfield entered the New Zealand market in 1997 and acquired an interest in the St. Lukes Group portfolio in 1998. Westfield malls are by far the most numerous chain in New Zealand, with most of its centres located in Auckland, including their largest development located in Albany. [16] As of February 2017, Westfield had NZ$2.5 billion in assets under management in New Zealand. [17]

In mid-2012, Westfield sold its 50% share of Westfield Shore City in Takapuna on Auckland's North Shore, now known as Shore City Shopping Centre. Later that same year the company sold Westfield Downtown [18] and Westfield Pakuranga, now known as Pakuranga Plaza. [19]

In 2014, Scentre sold 49% of five properties to the Singapore Government's GIC Private Limited. The properties are Albany, Manukau, Newmarket and St Lukes in Auckland, and Riccarton in Christchurch. [20]

In 2015, two more Westfield centres sold by Scentre Group were Chartwell Shopping Centre (formerly Westfield Chartwell) and Queensgate Shopping Centre (formerly Westfield Queensgate). [21]

In February 2017, it was announced that Scentre Group had sold Westfield WestCity in Henderson, Auckland, to the family-owned Australian business Angaet Group for A$147 million. [22]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Westfield Group</span> Australian shopping centre group

Westfield Group was an Australian shopping centre company that existed from 1960 to 2014, when it split into two independent companies: Scentre Group, which owns and operates the Australian and New Zealand Westfield shopping centre portfolio; and Westfield Corporation, which continued to own and operate the American and European centre portfolio.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frank Lowy</span> Australian businessman, founder and chairman of Westfield

Sir Frank P. Lowy is an Australian-Israeli businessman of Jewish Slovak-Hungarian origins and the former long-time chairman of Westfield Corporation, a global shopping centre company with US$29.3 billion of assets under management in the United States, United Kingdom and Europe. In June 2018 Westfield Corporation was acquired by French company Unibail-Rodamco.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Westfield Whitford City</span> Shopping centre in Perth, Western Australia

Westfield Whitford City, formerly Whitford City Shopping Centre, is a major shopping centre located in Hillarys, east of St. Mark's Anglican Community School in Perth, Western Australia. Built in 1977 on the former Red Cattle Ridge site at Marmion Avenue approximately 18 kilometres north of the Perth central business district, the centre is owned by the Scentre Group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Westfield St Lukes</span> Shopping mall in Mount Albert, Auckland

Westfield St Lukes, one of the big three shopping centres in the western suburbs of Auckland, New Zealand, stands on St Lukes Road in the suburb of St Lukes, Mount Albert. It receives about 6 million shopper visits annually. With 43,000 m2 gross floor area, it features a Farmers, Kmart, Countdown, an Event Cinemas 8 screen cinema complex and over 160 shops.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Westfield Sydney</span> Shopping centre in Sydney, Australia

Westfield Sydney is a large, upmarket shopping centre in the Sydney central business district. It is located underneath the Sydney Tower and is located on Pitt Street Mall, adjacent to the MidCity, Glasshouse and near The Strand Arcade.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chartwell Shopping Centre</span> Shopping centre in Hamilton, New Zealand

Chartwell Shopping Centre is a shopping centre, owned by Stride Property, and is located on a 4.22-hectare (10.43-acre) site in the suburb of Chartwell, 5.6 kilometres (3.5 mi) north of Hamilton, New Zealand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WestCity Waitakere</span> Shopping mall in Henderson, Auckland

WestCity Waitakere is a major regional shopping centre located in Henderson, a suburb in Auckland, New Zealand. It is 15.9 kilometres (9.9 mi) west of the Auckland CBD, and is immediately adjacent to The Boundary.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Westfield Manukau City</span> Shopping center in Manukau, New Zealand

Westfield Manukau is a major shopping centre located in Manukau, a southern district of Auckland, New Zealand. Annual sales for the full year 2018 were $293.4 million.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Westfield West Lakes</span> Shopping mall in West Lakes, South Australia

Westfield West Lakes is a shopping centre located in West Lakes, South Australia. It contains approximately 260 stores, with anchor tenants David Jones, Harris Scarfe, Kmart, Coles, Target, Woolworths and JB Hi-Fi.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Westfield Albany</span> Shopping mall in Auckland, New Zealand

Westfield Albany is a shopping centre in the Auckland suburb of Albany, New Zealand, opposite the Albany Lakes Civic Park. It is majority owned (51%) by Scentre Group with the remainder owned by the Singapore Government's GIC. Until 2014 it was wholly owned by Scentre Group, which was formerly part of Westfield Group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield</span> French real estate company

Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield SE is a French multinational commercial real estate company headquartered in Paris, France. Its history originates with the formation of two separate shopping centre operators, Unibail and Rodamco Europe, which merged in 2007 and became a societas Europaea in 2009. The company acquired Australian shopping centre operator Westfield Corporation in June 2018.

Warrawong Plaza is a major shopping centre located in Warrawong, a suburb of Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia. With a retail floor area of 57,582 m2 (619,807 sq ft), it is currently the third largest shopping centre in the Illawarra region.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Commercial Bay Shopping Centre</span> Shopping mall in Auckland, New Zealand

Commercial Bay Shopping Centre is a shopping centre in the Auckland CBD, Auckland, New Zealand. It is situated at 11–19 Customs Street West between Lower Albert Street and the Britomart Transport Centre, and opened in 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Westfield Corporation</span> Australian-based British-American shopping centre company

Westfield Corporation was an Australian commercial real estate company and operator of shopping centres. It was founded with the spin-off of the Westfield Group in 2014, where assets in Australia and New Zealand formed the Scentre Group, and assets in the United Kingdom and United States formed the Westfield Corporation. It was listed on the Australian Stock Exchange with the ticker symbol "WFD".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steven Lowy</span> Australian executive

Steven Mark Lowy is the former co-Chief Executive Officer of Westfield Corporation, a leading global shopping centre company that was acquired by French company Unibail-Rodamco in 2018 in what was one of the largest transactions in Australian corporate history. His principal activities now focus on investments associated with the Lowy family’s private company, Lowy Financial Group, as well as a number of philanthropic and community roles including as Chairman of the World Board of Trustees of Keren Heysod-United Israel Appeal and President of the Hakoah Club.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shore City Shopping Centre</span> Retail Centre in Auckland, New Zealand

Shore City Shopping Centre is an enclosed shopping centre in the North Shore suburb of Takapuna, Auckland, New Zealand established in 1974. It was previously owned by Westfield Group and is now owned and managed by Precision Group. The mall is situated near Takapuna Beach.

Overland Footwear Group is a New Zealand and Australian footwear and fashion retail company. It operates the Merchant 1948 and Mi Piaci retail chains in both countries and produces its own footwear lines.

References

  1. 1 2 "SCG.AX - Scentre Group Profile | Reuters". Reuters .
  2. 1 2 "SCENTRE GROUP FORECASTS FFO GROWTH OF 3.5% TO 22.5 CENTS PER SECURITY FOR 2015" (PDF) (Press release). Scentre Group. 24 February 2015. Retrieved 5 March 2015.
  3. ↑ Scentre Group 2023 Annual Financial Report (PDF) (Report). 21 February 2024.
  4. ↑ "SCENTRE GROUP (ASX: SCG) – IMPLEMENTATION OF WESTFIELD GROUP RESTRUCTURE" (PDF) (Press release). Scentre Group. 30 June 2014. Retrieved 10 October 2014.
  5. 1 2 "Shoppers met with buckets and rags at the new $790m Westfield Newmarket mall". Stuff.co.nz . 15 October 2019. Retrieved 15 October 2019.
  6. 1 2 "Westfield History: Westfield Stirs (1956–1960)" (PDF). About us. p. 14. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 November 2006. Retrieved 5 January 2007.
  7. 1 2 3 Sammartino, André; Van Ruth, Frances (2007). "The Westfield Group". In Dick, H.; Merrett, D. (eds.). The Internationalisation Strategies of Small-Country Firms: The Australian Experience of Globalisation. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar. pp. 308–318.
  8. ↑ Gibson, Anne (23 August 2007). "Countdown under way for Albany supermall rollout". New Zealand Herald.
  9. ↑ "Centro Watt Enters Mall Business; US Platform Well-Positioned to Continue Growth". www.businesswire.com. 11 May 2006. Retrieved 7 February 2019.
  10. ↑ "Starwood Capital Group Completes $1.6B Acquisition of Seven Dominant Regional Malls from Westfield Group" (Press release). 22 November 2013. Retrieved 10 October 2014.
  11. ↑ "Scentre Group History". July 2024. Retrieved 12 July 2024.
  12. ↑ "Frank Lowy steps down as Scentre Group chairman". AFR.com. 23 October 2015.
  13. ↑ "Westfield bets on Disney and Barbie pay off as visitor numbers climb". The Sidney Morning Gerald. 22 August 2023. Archived from the original on 25 December 2023. Retrieved 29 March 2024.
  14. ↑ Josefine Ganko, Sarah McPhee, Daniella White (14 April 2024). "Bondi Junction stabbing live updates: NSW Police identify Joel Cauchi as attacker; John Singleton's daughter among multiple dead in Sydney's eastern suburbs". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 14 April 2024.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  15. ↑ "Scentre Group reports 5.2% growth in full year funds from operations". Shoppinf Centre News. Archived from the original on 13 March 2024. Retrieved 29 March 2024.
  16. ↑ Gibson, Anne (29 June 2012). "Westfield sells Auckland's Shore City mall". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 11 August 2013.
  17. ↑ "Scentre Group Properties". 21 February 2017. Retrieved 21 February 2017.
  18. ↑ "Another Westfield mall sold". National Business Review - nbr.co.nz. 11 December 2012. Retrieved 7 November 2018.
  19. ↑ Hutching, Chris (11 December 2013). "Another Westfield Mall Sold". New Zealand Herald.
  20. ↑ Kloten, Niko; Harris, Catherine (7 November 2014). "Singapore fund buys into NZ Westfield shopping centres". Stuff. Retrieved 29 March 2016.
  21. ↑ Hamish Rutherford (27 November 2015). "Westfield malls in Lower Hutt and Hamilton to be rebranded after sale". Stuff.co.nz.
  22. ↑ "Auckland mall WestCity sold for A$147m". NZ Herald. 21 February 2017. Retrieved 21 February 2017.
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