Arabian Centres Company reports rise in revenues and net profit for Q1 2019

Arabian Centres Company (ACC), Saudi Arabia-based owner, developer and operator of lifestyle shopping centres, has announced its financial results for the first quarter ended June 30, 2019 (1QFY2020), reporting revenues of SAR572.5 million, up 2.5% y-o-y. Net profit for the quarter was up almost three-fold to SAR227.0 million in Q1-FY2020 versus SAR81.0 million in the same quarter last year.

As of 30 June 2019, ACC operated a portfolio of 19 malls with an aggregate gross leasable area (GLA) of 1.1 million sqm, a 1% increase y-o-y. It recorded a period-end and like-for-like occupancy rate of 93.2% across all malls, compared to 92.4% in Q1-FY2019. ACC also reported strong leasing momentum with over 801 leases renewed with a positive releasing spread. In addition, ACC inaugurated its first cinema theatre at Mall of Arabia in August 2019.

Commenting on the quarter’s results, ACC’s CEO, Olivier Nougarou said: “I am very pleased with our first quarter results which set the tune for the rest of the year and mark the return to robust like-for-like growth and strengthened profitability. As the retail segment in KSA gains steam, we are pressing ahead with our portfolio optimisation strategies and are successfully renewing lease contracts with a positive spread and more favourable discount policies. I am also glad to report that the quarter just ended saw us inaugurate ACC’s first cinema theatre in August 2019, a key growth avenue for our business going forward which will generate incremental footfall as additional theatres come online. Our efforts are already bearing fruit with growing profitability and strong margin expansion across our income statement.”

“We thereby maintain our guidance for full-year like-for-like growth of 6-8%. We are also pressing ahead with our expansion strategy that will see us bring online c.172 thousand sqm in new GLA by the end of 2019 and a further c.129 by April 2020 as part of near-term investment strategy. These new developments alongside an additional c. 358 thousand sqm in medium-term projects will help cement ACC’s leading market position and will lay the foundation for continued value creation well into the future,” he added.