10 December 2021, Mumbai:
Retail malls in India are expected to witness recovery up to 75 percent of pre-Covid rentals in the current financial year, says rating agency ICRA.
Malls have witnessed a faster recovery after the second wave of the pandemic, compared to the first wave, driven by faster relaxation in the restrictions and improved vaccination coverage.
With the easing of restrictions, along with a decline in the fresh Covid infections, there was a gradual improvement in operational metrics and rent income for mall operators in the second half of 2020-21 before the second wave in April 2021 again led to the closure of malls for about two months due to state wise restrictions.
Recovery of retail malls was sharper since August 2021 and the trajectory is expected to sustain driven by pent-up demand, high vaccination coverage, and the resumption of multiplexes which also coincided with the festive season.
While footfalls remain significantly lower than those in pre-Covid levels, the average spend per footfall improved drastically since the pandemic indicating the fact that only serious buyers are visiting malls now.
Store categories such as hypermarkets, electronics, and fashion and beauty have done well with certain brands even exceeding pre-Covid sales.
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