Tenants’ sales totaled CLP 1.116 trillion, up 0.2% over 3Q22, with performance on average 11 percentage points higher than retail sales in the Metropolitan Region for the three quarters of the year.
Urban centers reached an occupancy rate of 95.3% in the third quarter.
Santiago, 14 November 2023.- According to the Financial Market Commission (CMF), Mallplaza’s results were encouraging in the third quarter of this year: visitor flows continued to grow steadily, with 70 million visits registered, up 5% over the same quarter the year before; tenants’ sales totaled CLP 1.116 trillion, up 0.2% over 3Q22, with performance on average 11 percentage points higher than retail sales in the Metropolitan Region for the first three quarters of this year. Occupancy costs remain healthy at 11.5% and revenues totaled CLP 110.409 billion, registering a 17% increase compared to the third quarter of last year. This positive performance goes hand in hand with operational efficiency, measured as EBITDA over revenue, which was 79.4% this quarter, in line with the levels the company registered prior to the pandemic. EBITDA totaled CLP 87.663 billion, which represents 18% year-on-year growth.
“As a company, we have reaffirmed that our customers are at the heart of what we do. Our interest in getting to know them and attending to their needs in a timely manner has allowed us to have one of the best urban center portfolios in the region today. Of our 25 Plazas strategically located in 16 cities, our value proposition in 10 Tier A category Mallplaza urban centers stands out. They are leaders in their markets with high visitor flows, growth potential and productivity. These 10 urban centers represent 64% of the company’s EBITDA,” Mallplaza CEO Fernando de Peña said.
New openings
Another challenge that the company has faced this year has been to consolidate a sustained pace of relevant openings regionally, especially by brands that visitors value, which has been materialized with the arrival of stores like IKEA, H&M, Decathlon and Dollarcity, among many others This, the first IKEA store in Colombia opened its doors in Mallplaza NQS (Bogota) during the period, with over 26,000 m2 in floor space. In Chile, the first Decathlon store in the north opened in Mallplaza La Serena, while H&M did so in Mallplaza Alameda and Mallplaza Calama. Meanwhile, in Peru high-interest stores like Dollarcity and Hiper Asia opened in Mallplaza Trujillo, while Home Asia did so in Mallplaza Comas (Lima). This work at the regional level has allowed the urban centers to increase occupancy rates, closing the third quarter at 95.3%.
“As a company we have been able to optimize our commercial proposition through a strategy of converting large stores to new retail propositions, innovative entertainment spaces and a wide range of services that generate daily traffic to our urban centers. We have converted about 115,000 m2 regionally in the last four years,” De Peña highlights.
Examples of these conversions are the La Polar and Falabella stores in Mallplaza Alameda, which gave way to a new H&M store, and reduction of the La Polar store in Mallplaza Sur to incorporate a new Asian Multiformat.
Other noteworthy openings in the period were the arrival of H&M and Arturo Calle in Mallplaza NQS (Bogota), the opening of H&M in Mallplaza Cartagena and Arturo Calle Woman in Mallplaza Buenavista. In addition, El Mercado was incorporated into Mallplaza Arequipa; Fukay, Starbucks and Kunstmann arrived in Mallplaza Vespucio (Chile) and Take a Wok, Sow and El Japonés did so in Mallplaza Norte (Chile).
In terms of growth, Mallplaza continues to develop greenfield projects through the construction of Mallplaza Cali in Colombia (GLA 67,500 m2), its fifth urban center in Colombia, which will open its doors in the 1st half of 2024. To date, 90% of its GLA has already been taken, which will set a milestone in shopping center openings, not just in Colombia, but in Latin America.
It is also busy with brownfield projects, especially at its Tier A urban centers. One example of this is Mallplaza Vespucio, which in addition to the latest transformations is now incorporating a new 21,600-m2 extension that is part of the Master Plan for this urban center’s reconversion, which will seek to attract customers in the eastern part of the capital, in addition to receiving a new exterior design with the powerful incorporation of a fast-fashion mix in the flagship format.
“These results show that Mallplaza’s operational performance in 3Q23 was outstanding, and it fills us with pride to say so. In addition to consolidating a positive trend in results, they reveal the success of our business strategy’s implementation,” De Peña said.
