Hyprop Investments has revealed that, compared to last year, footfall in its malls fell by 71% in April as a result of COVID-19. Hyprop owns several premium malls, including Cape Town’s Canal Walk and Johannesburg’s Rosebank Mall. It also has four malls in West Africa.
Hyprop has also revealed that in April it only collected 43.6% of monthly rent, and 54.6% in May. Footfall in May, after some easing of the lockdown, was down by 39% compared to the same month in 29%.
In South Africa, where the lockdown was eased again at the beginning of June, the percentage of its tenants who opened up and were trading ranged from 67% to 97%. In Ghana, where the lockdown was lifted in April, its malls are functioning as normal.
Hyprop, has Edcon, which is in administration, as one of its key tenants. The mall owner has 47,762m² square meters of exposure to Edcon, or 6.7% of its gross leasable area in South Africa. This is down from 54,569m² of exposure in March.
In March, Hyprop announced it was still looking to sell its underperforming malls in Ghana and Nigeria. The company has stakes in Accra Mall, West Hills Mall and Kumasi City Mall in Ghana, and Ikeja City Mall in Lagos, Nigeria.