French shopping mall operator Klépierre has hailed an “excellent” 2024 fiscal year, during which its revenue grew significantly and exceeded the company’s targets.

Net rental revenue for Klépierre, which owns 70 shopping malls in a dozen European countries, grew by 6.3% in 2024, while the revenue of the retailers operating in the company’s malls increased by 4%, said Klépierre in a press release.

Klépierre’s EBITDA grew by 6.9% to €985.3 million, and current net cash flow per share, the overall profitability indicator the company is setting its targets to, increased by 5.3% to reach €2.60.

A result that exceeded the initial target of “between €2.50 and €2.55 per share” set by Klépierre halfway through last year, and was also higher than the forecasts made by analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.

“2024 was an excellent year… which confirms the relevance of Klépierre’s strategic positioning” based on “leading” shopping malls located in Europe’s major cities, said Jean-Marc Jestin, president of the company’s executive committee, during a conference call.

“Major cities are growing, and they absorb a large share of Europe’s population and economic growth. We are positioned in major cities, since retail trade follows people,” he added, saying also that he believes that Klépierre’s shopping malls are “even more popular than before, to the detriment of other, less profitable forms of retail.”

The group’s shopping malls recorded 700 million visitors in 2024, and their vacancy rate at the end of the years was 3.5%.

Klépierre posted significant growth in 2023, and in 2024 it generated a net income of €1.1 billion, a figure in line with the forecasts of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. The company will propose to pay a dividend of €1.85 per share.

Last year, Klépierre acquired two shopping malls, in Aulnay-sous-Bois, France, and Rome, Italy, for a total investment of €237 million, and sold assets deemed “non-strategic” for €144 million.

Jestin said that the company is approaching 2025 with “great confidence,” forecasting for the year a 3% increase in EBITDA and a net current cash flow per share between €2.60 and €2.65.