Letter from the CEO
For Mallplaza, 2023 was a year of growth, a renewed value proposition and consolidation of results. Our strong performance and results reflect the successful execution of our business strategy, which has allowed us to offer a varied, improved and customer-focused value proposition at our urban centers, which have been capable of providing multiple and powerful reasons for visiting through new brands, services and categories. The speed with which we were able to complete this proposition enhancement was undoubtedly essential to the process and represented a significant differentiating factor for the company.
Thus, in 2023 we saw positive performance with significant annual growth in occupancy (95.8%), the highest regional level in the last four years; revenues (+13.2%); EBITDA (+14%); FFO (+18.4%) and a remarkable improvement in efficiency, which allowed us to close the year with an EBITDA margin of 77% and an annual visitor flow of 285 million people.
Likewise, we have transformed a portfolio of high-value assets in Latin America and made them grow in different ways. It consists of 25 leading urban centers in Chile, Peru and Colombia, of which 10 are Tier A assets and represent over 60% of the company’s EBITDA. These are assets that generate a greater return on investment and are leaders in their respective markets, with high visitor flows, growth potential and highly productive leasable area.
In Chile, we own 6 of the 10 best assets in terms of GLA and revenues per square meter, while we have 5 of the top 10 assets when it comes to total sales. And the number is even larger if we look at the top 15 or 20.
In this sense, the transformations of some of our Tier A centers, such as Mallplaza Vespucio, Mallplaza La Serena and Mallplaza Trébol in Chile, in addition to Mallplaza Trujillo in Peru and Mallplaza NQS in Bogota, Colombia, have allowed us to offer and receive the best tenants to respond to our visitors’ needs and desires.
Despite the challenging economic context, in 2023 we managed to consolidate a sustained pace of openings with 593 new stores regionally, many of which correspond to brands that are highly valued by visitors, such as IKEA, H&M, Decathlon and Inditex. For example, Colombia’s first IKEA store opened its doors in Mallplaza NQS (Bogota) with 26,000 m2 and the brand is already preparing its second store in soon-to-open Mallplaza Cali. Meanwhile, H&M continues with the openings committed within the framework of the strategic partnership signed in 2022 and Decathlon arrived in northern Chile with its first store in Mallplaza La Serena. At the same time, in Peru we consolidated Asian multimarkets with the arrival of Hiper Asia in Mallplaza Trujillo and Home Asia in Mallplaza Comas (Lima).
We were able to deploy a strategy to reconvert around 119,000 m2 of large stores over the last four years, reducing their area by about 15% and not just privileging the presence of major brands, but also entertainment, dining and public service propositions.
The urban centers are places for people to socialize and meet, where we welcome cities’ dynamics and enhance them with a robust Dining & Entertainment proposition that currently represents 14% of our GLA and has led us to look for new entertainment offerings, such as the Centro X exhibition hall in Mallplaza Los Dominicos, the Stand Up Comedy venue Gran Refugio in Mallplaza Mirador Biobio and new gastronomy districts like Las Terrazas del Puerto in Mallplaza Antofagasta, La Factoría and El Mercado del 14 in Mallplaza Vespucio, the Mercado Gastronómico in Mallplaza NQS in Bogotá and El Mercado in Mallplaza Arequipa, Peru.
Growth
Throughout our history we have always sought to seize opportunities and in that sense, we are convinced that growth is an important enabler for the fulfillment of our strategy. We are committed to growth through the promotion of Brownfield and Greenfield projects, in addition to M&As. For example, by expanding our Tier A assets, beginning the construction of new areas like Lifestyle in Mallplaza Vespucio; enhancing our business verticals such as Autoplaza, where we have incorporated used car sales and also renewed its infrastructure; or promoting the construction of Mallplaza Cali, which will open its doors in the first quarter of 2024 and become our fifth urban center in Colombia.
I cannot fail to mention the progress that our innovation and digitalization strategy has had, with continued growth in ominichannel services that has allowed us to become a key player in the logistics chain and with it, add digital flow to the urban center. In fact, we managed to deliver over 2.4 million packages in 2023, when Cross Dock, Dark Store and Click & Collect deliveries are added together, representing over USD 87 million in sales by sellers and doubling the previous year’s figure. This meant that omnichannel initiatives reached their points of equilibrium in 2023, including investment amortizations.
In addition, the daily operation has also been marked by powerful ESG management, as we remain busy making progress toward our environmental and social commitments, with a governance marked by ethics and integrity. We are working hard to address the impacts of the climate emergency in all dimensions, either in the design of new projects as well as the operations we have in Chile, Peru and Colombia.
None of this success in 2023 would have been possible without changes in the operational structure that made us lighter and simplified processes to speed up decision-making and execution. All the above was done with all employees aligned with the business strategy and committed to the accountability needed to assess the results and move ahead swiftly.
Mallplaza is very alive as a company, with a genuine passion for connecting with people and communities and somehow interpreting their dreams and responding to them with dynamic and permeable meeting places. We are always looking forward, with the knowledge that our urban centers are spaces that are in constant transformation to surprise and enrich the lives of everyone. That is our commitment.
Fernando de Peña Iver
Chief Executive Officer of Plaza S.A.
* Annual Reports 2023