Westfield posted a 31% leap in net income to $800m (£534m) in the first half of the year.
The rise in income came despite the value of its UK portfolio staying flat. The Australian shopping centre giant’s UK assets were valued at £2.68bn at the end June, after it sold its interests in the Castlecourt shopping centre at Belfast, the Friary centre at Guildford and Royal Victoria Place at Tunbridge Wells.
Its 50% stake in Westfield London, in Shepherd’s Bush, which it co-owns with Commerz Real, came in at £1.08bn, giving the whole centre a value of £2.15bn.
The group, which owns Stratford City in east London, said the new centre attracted 5.5m visitors during the Olympics. Both its main London malls are on track to attract 60m customers and £1.8bn worth of spending this year.
During the past six months it raised £400m in bonds, some of which will be used to fund its attempt to build another giant London shopping centre in Croydon.
Overall, Westfield manages $61.7bn (£41.2bn) of malls across the world.
