Wesfield Corporation is confident of achieving growth in its funds from operations in 2015, after posting a rise lift in profit for the past six months following the high-profile demerger of its Scentre business.
In the six months to December 31, based only on comparative operations Westfield posted an after-tax profit of $US582.3 million, a 20.3 per cent lift on the previous corresponding period's $US484.1m.
Revenue in the same period, on the same metrics, rose 19.4 per cent to $US784.4 million.
On June 30 last year, Scentre was demerged to house all the Westfield branded shopping centres in Australia and New Zealand.
For the year ended December 31, including costs associated with the demerger, Westfield posted a net loss of $US215m.
The company will pay a final dividend of US12.3c.
Shares in Westfield were flat on the news, unchanged at $10.84 at 10.15am (AEDT) against a benchmark index rise of 0.17 per cent.
BARTHOLOMEUSZ: The signs of success in Westfield's restructure
Westfield’s portfolio of US and UK malls increased comparable net operating income by 5.3 per cent during the year, while specialty store sales rose by 3.9 per cent.
The Australian company exited its older local assets to concentrate on glitzy developments such as the new World Trade Centre mall in New York that promise higher returns for investors.
The World Trade Center mall is due to start opening in stages from late 2015, Westfield said today.
The company also announced Peter Lowy would no longer be standing down as co-chief executive, while Elliot Rusanow has been appointed chief financial officer.
Mr Lowy, who leads the company alongside his brother Steven, had been due to leave the position in 2015, but has agreed to stay on at the request of the board of directors.
Westfield said it expects funds from operations in 2015 to lift to 37.7c per security. FFO in the six months to December 31 came to $391m, equating to 18.8c per security and in line with the company's forecast.
This equates to 4 per cent growth in funds from operations by 4 per cent, excluding the impact of its recent decision to sell a stake in three US malls to O’Connor Capital Partners.
Distributions to shareholders are forecast to be 25.1c per security.
With Dow Jones Newswires