Westfield board gets shake-up

WESTFIELD Group's board is to be shaken up, with directors Stephen Johns and Fred Hilmer stepping down at next month's annual general meeting.

Mr Johns, 65, has been involved with the shopping centre developer for more than 40 years, including 27 as a board member.

He joined in 1970 as an employee, rising to the role of group finance director before retiring in 2002 but continued as a director.

He resigned as chairman at construction group Leighton last month along with two other directors following a breakdown in relations with majority shareholder German construction company Hochtief.

Business and academic figure Professor Hilmer has been on Westfield's board since 1991 and is the current vice chancellor at the University of NSW.

Westfield chairman Frank Lowy said the two men had served the group through a phase of continued growth and been instrumental in its success over a long period.

Westfield is one of Australia's largest companies, sitting just outside the top 10 on share market value.

Former PricewaterhouseCoopers chief executive Mark Johnson will stand for election to the board at the AGM on May 29.

Westfield shares were 19 cents down at $11.60 on Friday afternoon.

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Westfield Group lifts profit

Businessman Frank Lowy. Source: The Daily Telegraph

SHOPPING centre developer Westfield Group's annual profit has grown by 18 per cent as income from its centres across the world increased.

The group, which manages 105 shopping centres in five countries, made a $1.72 billion profit in the year to December 31, up from $1.532 billion in 2011.

Joint chief executives Peter Lowy and Steven Lowy said 2012 was a year in which the company made several changes to its property portfolio as it aims to improve its returns to shareholders.

"The performance for the year has been very good and in line with expectations," they said today.

Westfield Retail Trust, which only holds interests in Westfield's Australian and New Zealand shopping centres, made a net profit of $830.8 million in the year to December, down 2.2 per cent from 2011.

The Trust's managing director Domenic Panaccio said the result showed the quality of the Trust's properties in a challenging operating environment.

Westfield Group said its operating income grew by 3.3 per cent in the 12 months to December, with growth strongest in the United States, followed by Australia and New Zealand, and then the United Kingdom.

"Our operating performance for the year saw continuing high levels of occupancy, growth in average rents and comparable specialty sales growth in each market," The Lowys said. "In Australia, whilst retail conditions have been subdued for most of the year the business has performed well."

Westfield continues to receive demand for space from both local and international retailers, they said.

Westfield completed its $1.2 billion Sydney development during 2012, and in 2013 expects to start between $1.25 billion and $1.5 billion in new developments. That will include work at Miranda in Sydney, Mt Gravatt in Brisbane and Bradford in the UK.

Westfield Group will pay 49.5 cents in distributions per security for 2012, and expects that to rise to 51 cents in 2013. Westfield Retail Trust will pay 18.75 cents per stapled security for 2012, and expects that to rise to 19.85 cents in 2013.

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Westfield chiefs paid $18.3 between them

WESTFIELD chief executives Steven and Peter Lowy were paid a total of $18.32 million during 2012.

Steven Lowy was paid $9.40 million for 2012, down from $9.55 million the previous year.

The pay of his brother and co-chief executive Peter Lowy increased slightly to $8.918 million from $8.917 million last year.

The shopping centre giant's other three top executives received pay cuts during 2012.

Chief financial officer Peter Allan was paid $5.65 million for the year, down from $5.83 million in 2011.

UK and Europe managing director Michael Gutman's remuneration shrank to $5.77 million, from $6.66 million the year before.

Australia, United States and New Zealand managing director Robert Jordan's pay packet fell to $5.58 million in 2012, from $6.44 million the previous year.

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