What’s should be your strategy for primary market in FY25?

New Delhi: Shopping mall owners’ revenue declined by around 50 per cent during the last fiscal as the retail sector was badly hit by the COVID-19 pandemic in March last year, according to real estate developers and consultants.

Average monthly rentals in shopping centres have softened by 4-5 per cent across eight cities, although many malls saw rent correction of up to 25 per cent, they said.

Most of the mall owners, which generally leases space in their shopping malls on a revenue-sharing model with retailers having a minimum guarantee clause, gave complete rental waivers during the April-June period of 2020 because of the nationwide lockdown to control COVID.

The mall promoters offered huge discounts during the remaining nine months of the last fiscal as well, resulting in a huge dent in their overall income.

For mall owners, the impact of COVID during March 2020 to March 2021 period was around 50 per cent, mainly due to loss of rent, and operational costs.

Cushman & Wakefield said that mall rents on an average across the top eight cities have declined by about 4-5 per cent after the pandemic.

“Revenues of shopping mall owners fell by about 40-50 per cent during the last financial year. Rental negotiations/discounts/waivers amidst the second wave are likely to impact their revenues again this year,” Cushman & Wakefield said.