(Alliance News) - Arricano Real Estate PLC on Monday said its Ukrainian shopping malls have continued to perform well in spite of "significant" restrictions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The operator of shopping centres in Ukraine said that as a consequence of this, total tenant turnover for 2020 was 10% below 2019 in local currency.
Arricano said that during 2020, the Ukraine government put in place restrictions to combat the Covid-19 pandemic, resulting in the partial closure of Arricano shopping malls for between 52 and 81 days, and restricting visitor access to essential stores. Temporary restrictions on customer access were introduced from November 14 to November 30, seeing shops close for the weekends.
Despite this, the occupancy rate across the portfolio remained at 99%, unchanged since 2018, it added.
The number of visitors to the malls in 2020, including the periods of government restrictions, totalled 33.1 million visitors, which was 19% less than in 2019, Arricano said. When the shopping malls were operating normally, visitor numbers only decreased by 5% compared to the same period in 2019.
"Arricano was impacted by Covid-19 but I am delighted the company was still able to perform well. I believe this was down to the efforts of our teams who managed to keep the vacancy rate to just 1%, a resilient performance which reflects well on the appeal of the shopping malls. I am also pleased that we maintained visitor numbers at very high levels whilst implementing the extensive hygiene, security and cultural changes needed to keep everyone safe," said Chief Executive Anna Chubotina.
Shares in Arricano Real Estate were untraded at USD0.30 in London on Monday.
By Zoe Wickens; zoewickens@alliancenews.com
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