The group said the strong performance was the result of strategies implemented over past years rather than actions taken during the past six months.

Resilient invests in dominant retail centres with strong anchor tenants and a high percentage of national retailers with a focus on non-metropolitan nodes.

Had it not been for the dominance of its retail centres the result would be different because of the downturn in the property sector. The first six months of the year were characterised by a deteriorating macroeconomic environment, which had negatively affected retail sales.

Retail trading conditions were expected to remain difficult for at least the remainder of this year.

National retailers had confirmed that non-metropolitan centres had outperformed the metropolitan markets.

Resilient said it believed that this was the result of significantly lower personal debt levels in the non-metropolitan areas and increases in social spending.

“The downturn in the resources sector has had limited effect on retail sales to date but the impact may simply be delayed,” the company said.

Resilient’s vacancies declined from 3,2% at the end of December to 2,9% at end of June mainly due to the Chemserve Spartan industrial unit being let to Consol Glass. The group said vacancies and arrears were budgeted to increase for the remainder of the financial year, however, no significant deterioration was anticipated.

Resilient is developing a 39000m² gross lettable area mall in a 50-50 partnership with Keystone Investments called The Grove. The mall is anchored by Edgars, Pick n Pay and Woolworths. All major tenants have taken occupation of their stores and the mall will open next month. Application has been made for a further 10000m² of retail rights on the adjacent property and approval is expected by year-end.