CEE shopping centre investor Atrium European Real Estate plans to further raise the quality of its portfolio in the coming years by disposing of non-core assets and boosting the number of large malls.

CEE shopping centre investor Atrium European Real Estate plans to further raise the quality of its portfolio in the coming years by disposing of non-core assets and boosting the number of large malls.

In an interview with PropertyEU, Atrium’s new CEO Josip Kardun and executive vice-chairman Rachel Lavine said the company had a three-year trajectory ahead during which it would focus on A markets. ‘We would like to buy one to two assets a year. It should be possible if we continue to dispose of our non-core assets,’ Kardun said.

Lavine, previously CEO before handing over the reins to Kardun, said Atrium would seek to boost the number of large shopping centres in its portfolio to around 40 from 33 now. At the same time, non-core assets will be sold. ´We are not under huge delivery pressure, that’s part of our DNA. But the number of assets will decrease.’

Listed on the Amsterdam and Vienna stock exchanges, Atrium is the only publicly quoted property player to be 100% focused on Central and Eastern European retail markets. The group owns a €2.7 bn portfolio of 153 primarily food-anchored shopping centres and retail properties in the region.

In recent months, Atrium has agreed a number of acquisitions including the 41,000 m2 Focus Mall in Bydgoszcz, Poland for €122 mln and the 20,900 m2 AFI Palace in Pardubice, Czech Republic for €83 mln.

‘The portfolio remains predominantly focused on income-generating shopping centres in the more mature and stable CEE countries producing solid cash flow in the long term,’ Lavine said.

Hypermarkets and supermarkets account for almost a third – or 30% - of the portfolio. ‘The tenant mix with large exposure to food retailing and everyday necessities has proven its economic resilience,’ she noted.