The executive president of Sonae Sierra, the mall design, construction and management company, has stated that the recession is not only over, but "more positive times" look promising.
Guedes de Oliveira said that they believe the recession has already passed and are looking forward to more positive times ahead. It is the company’s strategy to grow internationally and they expect to commence new projects in Brazil, Italy and Germany. By the close of this year, they hope to announce their entry into Colombia.The company has shown a €47.8m profit for the first half of 2014, compared to a loss of €4.6m during the same period last year. The financial director of the group, Edmundo Figueiredo points to the sales recovery which has increased by 4.1% year-on-year across the company’s portfolio.
According to Figueiredo, the group has seen a 6.6% growth within Portugal, with malls based in Italy increasing sales by 4.9%, and in Brazil, by 7.3%.
Its portfolio occupation rate has increased by 1.1% to reach 94.7%. The group has not only had the opportunity to reverse their policy of discounted rents for retailers in trouble, but it has been able to increase rents by 2.5% in Portugal because of the positive turnaround in sales.
26 SEPTEMBER 2014, Portugal
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