Press release
WESTFIELD CORPORATION REPORTS FULL YEAR 2017 RESULTS WITH
FUNDS FROM OPERATIONS OF $707M OR 34.0 CENTS PER SECURITY
Westfield Corporation (ASX:WFD) today announced its full year r
esults with Funds From
Operations (FFO) for the 12 months ended 31 December 2017 of $7
07m. FFO per security
was 34.0 cents, at the top end of the forecast. Distribution fo
r the 12 months ended 31
December 2017 is 25.5 cents per security.
Westfield Corporation Co-CEOs, Peter and Steven Lowy said: “201
7 was a significant year for
Westfield with the announcement in December of the proposal to
combine Westfield with
Unibail-Rodamco to create the world’s best retail real estate p
latform.
“The performance of Westfield for the year was solid and we rem
ain confident with the
strategy of developing and transforming Flagship assets. During
the year we successfully
opened the redevelopment of Century City in Los Angeles and the
expansion of UTC in San
Diego. We continued to make good progress on the expansions at
Westfield London and
Valley Fair in Silicon Valley.
“We are creating great experiences for retailers, consumers and
brands and continue to
benefit from the addition of food, leisure and entertainment an
d a broader mix of uses
including many new concepts, emerging technologies and online b
rands. In the United States
we have added over 130 retailers and brands that are new to Wes
tfield in our recently
completed developments.
“Over many years we have adapted and improved our portfolio to
meet the changing needs of
retailers, consumers and brands, and this remains a core streng
th of Westfield.
“Since 2010, when we implemented a strategy focusing on Flagshi
p assets, Westfield has
completed $7bn of developments, divested 29 assets valued at $7
bn and joint ventured 22
assets valued at $10bn. Westfield now has assets under manageme
nt of $34.5bn, of which
84% are Flagship assets.
“Our $8.5bn development program is focused on creating pre-emin
ent retail, dining and
entertainment destinations in some of the world’s top markets i
ncluding London, Silicon Valley
and Milan. The development program continues to transform our p
ortfolio and is expected to
generate significant value and earnings accretion for sharehold
ers.
”
WFD’s financial position is strong with balance sheet assets of
$23.6bn, a gearing ratio of
38.1% and $2.6bn in available liquidity.
IFRS net profit was $1,551m for the year ended 31 December 2017
, including $847m of
revaluations primarily driven
by uplift from developments.