M&S to be tenant at Treasury's Shanghai mall

THE CHINA unit of property developer Treasury Holding, Treasury China Trust (TCT), said yesterday it had secured a pre-commitment from global retail group Marks Spencer to take a flagship store at its City Center property in Shanghai.

The 10-year lease pre-commitment by Marks & Spencer is for 3,768sq m of retail space in City Center in China’s financial capital.

“TCT is very pleased to have secured Marks & Spencer as an anchor tenant for the redeveloped City Center, which upon completion in 2013 will be a signature retail mall in Shanghai,” Richard David, chief executive officer of TCT, said in a statement.

City Center comprises an existing total gross floor area of approximately 180,000sq m comprising two office towers and a seven-level retail podium.

TCT has started construction of an extension to the project which, when completed in two years, will make it one of Shanghai’s biggest shopping malls.

While Treasury’s Irish fortunes have been strongly linked to the National Asset Management Agency, its Chinese business has been performing very strongly. Treasury owns 40 per cent of TCT.

TCT announced its 2010 results last week, which showed it had earned net profit of S$20.935 million (€10.45 million) in the fourth quarter of 2010, to give a year-end profit figure of S$39.610 million (€19.77 million). The figure only covers the six months since the group’s listing in Singapore in June last year.

The fourth-quarter revenue figure represents a 9.4 per cent increase in gross revenue over the third quarter of 2010.

TCT focuses on commercial property in China and has approximately 10 billion yuan (€1.5 billion) in total assets and a further 1.7 billion yuan (€190 million) of assets under contract due for settlement by April 2011.

The City Center extension will be a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design-gold certified development designed by a team of international award winning architects.

TCT said it would be a flagship investment and key asset. The group’s portfolio in China also includes the Beijing International Logistics Park and the Central Plaza in Shanghai.

Shanghai surprise: Barbie shop shuts

BARBIE MOVED out of her Shanghai dream house yesterday after US toymaker Mattel Inc closed the only store in China dedicated to its best-selling doll.

Mattel did not cite a reason for shutting the six-storey Barbie Shanghai, although it had lowered the outlet's sales targets by at least 30 per cent since the March 2009 opening. The company would have a new "brand strategy" for Barbie and expand operations across China this year, it said in an e-mailed statement.

Mattel joins Best Buy Co in shutting Chinese stores even after retail sales in the fastest-growing major world economy surged last year. Shanghai-based analyst at China Market Research Group Ben Cavender said: "In China, no one knows who the brand is . . . Their products were perceived as being too sexy rather than being cute."