Times Square hits record HK$7.4b sales as tourists, locals flock in
Retail sales at Times Square shopping mall surged more than 20 per cent to a record HK$7.4 billion last year, with mainlanders accounting for more than one-third of receipts.
'We expect the sales revenues to climb up by 10 per cent to 15 per cent this year,' the mall's director, Leng Yen-thean, said.
'This is because the base is already very high. We believe the figure will go up but percentage-wise it will not be as large.'
Leng said the new record was set because of strong local consumer confidence, since many employees received pay rises and bonuses.
The growing number of visitors from the mainland was another key factor, she said, especially since they had greater purchasing power due to the appreciation of the yuan and the mainland's economic growth.
Last year, about HK$2.3 billion in payments at the mall were settled by cards issued by China UnionPay, the operator of the mainland's largest interbank transaction settlement system. She said the figure was 64 per cent higher than in 2009.
Overall, about 35 per cent of the mall's sales came from mainland visitors last year.
Leng said the Causeway Bay shopping centre pocketed rental income of HK$1.53 billion last year, or 7.5 per cent growth year on year. About HK$1.076 billion was rent from the retail space, with the rest from offices.
She said that more than half of the building's retail space - which is now all occupied - will be due for lease renewal this year. The director expects rents will increase by 15 per cent to 30 per cent this year. Currently, the mall's monthly rental prices are from HK$50 per square foot for restaurants to about HK$500 per square foot - which does not include turnover rent - for retailers.
For office space, which now has an overall occupancy rate of 94.5 per cent, Leng said base rents should increase by 5 per cent to 20 per cent this year. She said office rents were between HK$36 and HK$48 per square foot per month.
She expects retail sales value and traffic at the mall during the Chinese New Year to jump 15 per cent and 10 per cent respectively compared with the corresponding period last year.
The mall forecast traffic of more than 180,000 visitors per day during the two days before Chinese New Year. It has about 165,000 visitors per day on a normal weekend.
Boosting profits
Visitors from over the border have greater purchasing power
Mainland buyers in Times Square shops last year paid through China UnionPay a total of, in Hong Kong dollars, $2.3b
This sum was an increase over 2009's figure through the mainland's largest interbank settlement system of: 64%
