The owner of Westfield’s Australian and New Zealand shopping centres, Scentre, lifted its first half net operating income by 2.3 per cent and expects a similar increase for the rest of the year.

Scentre said it expects to lift comparable property net operating income by between two and 2.5 per cent for the 2014 calendar year.

“The Australian business and platform has proved highly resilient, and the high quality portfolio has delivered excellent sales productivity, almost full occupancy and continued growth in average rents and comparable net property income,” CEO, Peter Allen, said.

Scentre was formed in late June after Westfield shareholders backed a move to separate the mature Australasian business from its growing international division.

The company said retail sales across its centres were up six per cent during the six months to June and up five per cent in the month of July.

It expects to pay a distribution of 10.2 cents per security for the six months to December 31.

AAP