JSE-listed Liberty Two Degrees (L2D) says demand for space at its malls is high, with retail occupancies reaching 98% in October.
The portfolio’s super-regional malls Sandton City and Eastgate recorded occupancies of 98.7% and 96.1% respectively.
“About 281 leases including 102 new deals and 179 renewals were concluded,” the company said in its pre-close investor update on Monday.
Liberty Two Degrees is an internally managed precinct focused real estate investment trust (Reit) which also has an interest in, among others, Nelson Mandela Square, the Melrose Arch precinct, Liberty Promenade Shopping Centre and Botshabelo Mall.
The company said there is continuous improvement in portfolio annual trading density. Trading density is the sales turnover achieved per rentable square metre in a store or mall. In September, trading density recorded 18.6% growth, 12.1% ahead of 2019.
Luxury brands, reaching 149.2%, recorded the most improved trading density of the top five retail categories. Others were technology (44.5%), luggage and leatherware (35.4%), grocer/supermarket (18.8%) and health/beauty/grooming/ wellness (9%).
For the nine months of 2022, foot count grew 29.6% with super-regional malls achieving double-digit growth during May to September. Foot count growth was driven by the various experiential initiatives that dominate in the L2D precincts, demonstrating unrivalled creativity, said the company.
Hotels continue to see a recovery in occupancy levels with Sandton Sun having achieved an occupancy of 81.2% in October, taking its average for the year to 74% from 66.8% in 2019.
Occupancies at The Garden Court reached 70.5% while Sandton Towers, that opened in August 2022, also achieved good occupancies.
Weekend occupancies continue to improve ahead of weekdays indicating that local corporate travel has still not returned to pre-pandemic levels. Year to date the Sandton Convention Centre has had 165 events compared to 41 events for the same period in 2021.
“As leadership, our focus remains on driving positive outcomes to counter and address the challenges presented by the operating environment through the various initiatives in place, to ensure we continue to track the positive momentum in our business performance for the long term,” CEO Amelia Beattie said.
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