Scentre Group (ASX: SCG) picks McCann for board as sales at Westfield malls jump

At the end of January, Resolution Capital’s Andrew Parsons wrote to clients in his newsletter saying he did not believe McCann’s corporate track record is of a “suitable standard”.

“His time at Lendlease, including as CEO, resulted in poor capital allocation decisions, suboptimal operating performance, oversight of questionable accounting practices and poor shareholder returns,” Parsons told his clients.

“These two consecutive appointments (including Catherine Brenner) are a worrying sign for the company and one which places us in an invidious position in terms of our investment holding. We hope the board sets higher standards for future board appointments.”

Scentre on Wednesday also announced the inaugural chairman Brian Schwartz was retiring and would be replaced by fellow director Ilana Atlas. Schwartz joined Scentre when it was spun out of the former Westfield group in 2016 while Atlas was appointed to the board in 2021.

Speaking at his first shareholder meeting as the chief executive, Elliot Rusanow, said despite rising interest rates, in the first 13 weeks to April 2, 2023, there were 125 million customer visits, which is an increase of 16 per cent – or 17 million more visits – compared to the same period in 2022.

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In the operational update, total sales for January and February 2023 are 17 per cent higher compared to the same period in 2022 and 10 per cent higher than 2019.

“Cash collections for the first three months of the year were $663 million, $78 million higher than the comparable period in 2022,” Rusanow said.

Indicating that malls remain popular, seven Westfield centres now generate more than $1 billion in annual sales including Chermside, Bondi Junction, Fountain Gate, Sydney, Miranda, Carindale and most recently Doncaster.