Â鶹ӳ»­

European property giant Unibail-Rodamco plans to reduce its shopping centre portfolio to 80 large malls from the current 90 as a result of a strategic review of the company's business, CEO Guillaume Poitrinal said on Thursday at the ICSC Europe conference in Amsterdam. Poitrinal said that Unibail-Rodamco is seeking to refocus its activities on a limited number of larger malls which the company believes provide more opportunities to add value. As a result, the Franco-Dutch retail special specialist will continue operating the larger shopping centres in its portfolio, which currently account for about 90% of its retail portfolio’s asset value.

'We believe that scale will be essential,' Poitrinal said. 'The shopping centre business is challenged by the growing consolidation that has marked the retail industry over the last 10 years. As a result, shopping centre owners need to accelerate tenant rotation, in order to get new brands and new faces in their properties. And you can afford to do this only in larger properties which are better positioned in the market.' Poitrinal said that Unibail-Rodamco tries to change about 10% to15% of the retailers in its shopping centres every year. The company is also seeking to reach critical mass in the markets where it is already active. 'Companies with large shopping centres are in a better position than those with smaller shopping centres,' he added.