Kiwi trust's leasing performance at Sylvia Park centre wins praise

Kiwi Income Property Trust's leasing performance at Sylvia Park has been praised for shielding the trust from a consumer spending downturn.

Kiwi released new figures last week on leasing its Mt Wellington shopping centre, prompting analyst Mark Lister at ABN Amro Craigs to praise the park's rental deals.

The structure of the financial arrangements meant the trust had protected itself, he said.

Kiwi's retail exposure had drawn some negative media attention, particularly speculation about disappointing turnover at some of the shops, he said.

But Kiwi had fixed the vast majority of its retailers' rents and linked payments to the consumers price index in many cases, rather than linking rents to turnover, Lister said.

This shielded Kiwi from any downturn in the slowing consumer spending environment.

Lister also cautioned against criticism of Sylvia Park, saying it was only half-opened and therefore it was too early to say how successful it would be.