Westfield owner beefs up security after Bondi Junction attack
Scentre Group has increased its security and is working with local police across its 42 Westfield shopping malls following the attack at its Bondi Junction centre on April 13.
Company chief executive Elliott Rusanow said a new set of security measures were being rolled out across all its centres in Australia and New Zealand, through an increased visible presence of security staff wearing high-visibility vests.
Scentre chief executive Elliott Rusanow at Westfield Bondi Junction. Credit: Rhett Wyman
“Our decision to increase security across the portfolio and provide financial support to our business partners following the tragedy at Westfield Bondi [Junction] will result in an increase in operating expenses in 2024,” Rusanow said at the group’s quarterly update.
“We are pleased that the NSW Premier [Chris] Minns has announced a review into a whole raft of things,” he said, adding that Scentre would be active participants in the review, and “we welcome that conversation, with the view of how do we avoid these acts of violence unprovoked on innocent people ever happening again”.
On April 13, a busy Saturday afternoon, six people were fatally stabbed at the Bondi Junction shopping centre by 40-year-old Joel Cauchi. The centre was closed until April 19.
Scentre is also in direct contact with a tenant at its Hornsby Westfield mall, in outer Sydney, on the sale of knives. Rusanow confirmed the group is talking to them about how they sell the items and what they sell, and “we will continue to do so”.
‘We are grateful for the support of our customers with visitation in the last week to Westfield Bondi at similar levels to the same time in 2023.’
Scentre CEO Elliott Rusanow
“This is actually probably part of a broader conversation for NSW and the country, which is what is the correct settings for what can be sold, how it can be sold and who it can be sold to,” he said.
Speaking at the quarterly update for the ASX-listed Scentre, which has a market value of $16.7 billion, Rusanow said shopping visitor numbers in the first 18 weeks to May 5, which included the closure of the Bondi Junction mall, were 175 million, or 2.8 million more than the same period in 2023.
“Our business partners achieved $6.5 billion of sales in the three months to March 31, up 2.4 per cent compared to the same period in 2023,” he said. That included Easter, when the malls were closed on Good Friday and Easter Sunday.
“We are grateful for the support of our customers with visitation in the last week to Westfield Bondi [Junction] at similar levels to the same time in 2023,” Rusanow said.
Bondi Junction tenants reported they had seen a decline in business in the days after the mall reopened but, with Mother’s Day this weekend, Rusanow expects a pick-up in trade.
“We are very thankful for the customers and community that have really supported the businesses and are coming back to the malls for Mother’s Day ... which is a key milestone event across the portfolio,” he said. “It is actually a very large trading day generally.”
Scentre reconfirmed that, subject to no material change in conditions, its funds from operations – a more accurate measure for real estate investment trusts – were expected to be in the range of 21.75¢ to 22.25¢ per security for 2024, the equivalent of 3 per cent to 5.4 per cent growth for the year. Distributions are expected to be at least 17.2¢ per security for the period, equal to 3.6 per cent growth.
Scentre’s share price slipped 1.7 per cent to $3.16 following the update – roughly in line with the sharemarket’s overall decline.
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