A few months after the incident in Westfield Bondi Junction Shopping Centre where Joel Cauchi stabbed and killed six people and injured another 12 people, Westfield operator Scentre Group has continued to support the local community.

The Westfield website still has a page up where it is offering free counselling services through its partner Assure “to customers, retail partners and team members” who were impacted by the incident. Westfield said that Assure had qualified mental health clinicians available 24/7 to support those who require assistance, while providing the contact details on the website.

“We continue to provide support, both financial and non-financial, to the victims’ families as well as the victims injured during this attack,” said Scentre Group Chief Executive Officer Elliott Rusanow this week.

The support it was giving the community was noted in a statement declaring its financials for the first half of this year which showed strong numbers, despite interest rates remaining stubbornly high dampening overall consumer spending sentiment.

Scentre revealed that for the six months to 30 June 2024, its funds from operations increased by 2 per cent to $568 million. Sales increased by 2.4 per cent to $13.4 billion.

It more than doubled its first-half net profit to $403.9m, which included an unrealised property valuation fall of $120m on its mall empire. The Group’s portfolio was valued at $34.3 billion.

Westfield Tea Tree Plaza

Westfield Tea Tree Plaza

Its 42 Westfield locations in Australia and New Zealand saw 320 million customer visitations so far this year – a 1.9 per cent increase, or 6 million more visits when compared to the same period last year.

Occupancy was reported at 99.3 per cent at 30 June 2024, an increase from 99 per cent at 30 June 2023.

The group added that it has a $4 billion pipeline of future retail development opportunities. This includes the reconfiguration of department store space at Westfield Bondi and Westfield Burwood in Sydney and Westfield Southland in Melbourne.

Also underway is the expansion of Westfield Sydney in Sydney’s CBD, and the construction of the adjoining commercial and residential tower on behalf of Cbus Property.

“Our portfolio includes 670 hectares of land holdings. These substantial land holdings, combined with our destinations’ strategic locations, has the potential to provide significant future long-term growth opportunities for the group. We are now focusing on further understanding and unlocking these and other strategic growth opportunities,” said Rusanow. Some have suggested that the group could even consider using its large shopping centres as potential sites for apartments to help address the national housing crisis.

The group recently teamed up with investment bank Barrenjoey to buy half stakes in its own malls, which some investors are selling as they come under increasing pressure. In April, Scentre established the $310 million Tea Tree Opportunity Trust which purchased a 50 per cent share in Adelaide’s Westfield Tea Tree Plaza. The group continues to own the other 50 per cent of the centre. Additionally, last month, reports surfaced that Scentre will also pay $167.3 million for 50 per cent of Westfield West Lakes in Adelaide, South Australia’s third-largest shopping centre.