Sasseur Reits sees record Golden Week sales at its outlet malls

SINGAPORE - Listed Sasseur Reits achieved record-breaking aggregate sales of 276.1 million yuan ($50.9 million) across its four outlets in China during the seven-day Golden Week holidays from Oct 1 to 7, 2024.

The trust, which is part of the Sasseur Group in China, said this marks a 28 per cent year-on-year increase in portfolio outlet sales, and a surge of close to 55 per cent compared with pre-pandemic levels in 2019.

Its Chongqing (Liangjiang) outlet maintained its leadership position in the portfolio with 145.3 million yuan in sales, representing a year-on-year jump nearing 45 per cent.

Sasseur Reits’ outlet sales outperformed the overall China retail sales revenue growth of 9 per cent during the Golden Week, the company said.

Ms Cecilia Tan, CEO of the Reit Manager, attributed the performance to the strength and appeal of Sasseur Reits’ carefully-curated marketing strategies.

“By synchronising our outlet anniversary celebrations which started in September 2024 and continuing with Golden Week promotions, we collaborated closely with leading local and international brands to tailor pricing strategies and promotional activities, thereby enhancing consumer engagement and driving favourable purchasing decisions,” she said. “We offered compelling value buys with irresistible discounts that drew large crowds of both local shoppers and tourists from other parts of China during this period.”

Founded by 58-year-old Vito Xu and listed here in March 2018, Sasseur Reits is a pure play China outlet mall operator.

It operates four of its parent Sasseur Group’s 18-outlet China mall properties – two in Chongqing, one in Kunming and one in Hefei. In total, these properties had a portfolio value of 8.5 billion yuan, net rentable area of some 310,241 sqm and enjoyed an occupancy of 98 per cent in the 2023 financial year. Total outlet sales in 2023 was some 4.66 billion yuan.

The company is known for its generous dividend payout and has distributed 41.262 cents since listing in 2018. This works out to total return of 52.1 per cent, versus FTSE ST Reits total return of 26.3 per cent and FTSE ST Index total returns of 41 per cent.

Sasseur Reits operates a unique rental collection system, where its tenants pay a rental pegged to their sales revenue, subject to a minimum amount. On average, this works out to about 4-5 per cent of net sales.

Sasseur Reits closed at 71 cents on Oct 14.