European retail landlord Lighthouse Properties (the former Lighthouse Capital Limited) says its portfolio saw continued recovery in trading in the third quarter.
Retail sales were 3.1% above 2019’s level and 6.1% above 2021’s, with year-on-year footfall continuing to improve as shoppers return to the malls, the company said in a voluntary update on Thursday.
“Strong leasing activity has resulted in vacancies falling to below 4% and we expect further reduction based on lease negotiations currently under way, particularly in France,” said the company.
JSE-listed Lighthouse owns dominant and defensive retail assets in Western Europe countries including France, Portugal, Slovenia and Spain. Its tenants include well-known global brands such as Zara, Primark, H&M, Mango and Leroy Merlin.
In March, Lighthouse acquired Torrecárdenas shopping centre in Spain for €162.5m (about R3bn) at a net initial yield of 6.4%. The mall’s performance has exceeded expectation with year-to-date sales increasing 8.1% and footfall 4.7% when compared to 2019. About 375m2 of space was let to VIPS, a regional restaurant franchise, further reducing vacancies to 1.2%.
Last month, Biltoki, a popular French gourmet food market concept opened at Docks 76. At Saint Sever, Action, a national general merchandise retailer, has taken occupation of the 1,150m2 store and is scheduled for opening at year-end.
Lighthouse said the imminent opening of Primark has resulted in increased demand from potential tenants, with advanced negotiations under way for international fashion brands to let the vacant space. The food court will be redeveloped while the leasing activity will reduce vacancies at Saint Sever to below 5% by the end of 2023.
The Lidl supermarket opened in October at Docks Vauban where tenant demand is high. The refurbishment of the food court at Forum Coimbra is now complete and Lighthouse awaits local authority’s approval to expand Primark and the Inditex stores to the latest flagship concepts.
Lighthouse, which owns a stake in Hammerson, received about 104,000 Hammerson shares as a scrip dividend in November, and it holds 22.82% of the total Hammerson shares in issue.
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