results enabled Simon to raise its full-year profit guidance. Along with the good operational and financial news, Simon also purchased the remaining stake in the Taubman portfolio of 21 trophy malls, to make it 100 per cent owner. Taubman’s operating metrics, viewed within the retail real estate universe, are a thing of beauty: retail sales per square foot of around US$1,200, occupancy over 94 per cent and rent per square foot of US$72.36, which is more than 20 per cent higher than the average for Simon’s other malls and outlet centres in the US. Taubman also had four properties outside the US, two in China and two in South Korea. Company chief financial officer, Brian McDade, characterised the sales improvement as “widespread across the totality of the portfolio”, and singled out luxury, athleisure and apparel as good-performing categories. However, CEO David Simon added, “We’re still not, from a sales point of view, hitting on all cylinders”. He indicated that centres catering to higher-income consumers were performing better than those catering to value-oriented consumers. He caveated that by pointing out weaknesses in tourist-oriented markets, headlined by Las Vegas, where high-end casino retail was underperforming. Tariff uncertainty has lightened somewhat as a result of recent discussions between Trump and Xi, and the fact that several retailers have shifted part of their sourcing out of China. Still, we have yet to see the end of it, and indeed, in reference to the mammoth Game 3 of the recent World Series between the Blue Jays and Dodgers, David Simon said he hoped the game wouldn’t go to 18 innings. “I continue to believe that tariffs will have an impact, and we haven’t yet seen all of it. Some of that [the impact] will be passed on to the supplier, some of it will be eaten by the retailer, and some of that will be passed on to the consumer”. He is particularly concerned about smaller retailers that don’t have diversified production facilities and are not in the same position as the large chains in being able to shuffle around the location of their sources. Netflix comes to the mall Still, tariffs did not affect whatsoever on leasing negotiations and had in no way lessened the demand for space in Simon’s malls. Moreover, some marquee openings are set to debut: the splashiest is Netflix’s first-ever store at Simon’s King of Prussia Mall in Philadelphia, scheduled to open on November 12, marking a new chapter in the history of experiential retail. The store, Netflix House, will cover 120,000 square feet of floorspace over two levels in what was once a Lord & Taylor department store. (A month later, on December 11, a second Netflix store is scheduled to open at Galleria Dallas, which is not a Simon mall.) Netflix isn’t the only marquee opening in the fourth quarter in Simon’s portfolio. Formula One opened a 21,000-square-foot, two-level arcade in the Forum Shops at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, which features approximately 90 racing simulators, along with a bar, dining, and an outdoor terrace with a view overlooking the Strip. Third quarter results: mostly, it’s all up Total revenue for the third quarter came to US$1.602 billion, up 8.2 per cent from the same quarter a year ago. That brought year-to-date revenue to US$4.573 billion, an increase of 4.4 per cent year-on-year. The leasing component of Simon’s revenue accounted for 91 per cent of the company’s revenues: this line item experienced growth of 8.4 per cent for the quarter and 4.1 per cent for the first nine months. Management and ‘other income’ also grew in the third quarter. Variable lease income, which is the portion of rental income that fluctuates according to tenant sales, increased to just over 19 per cent of the total leasing income. Net income for Simon’s stockholders in the third quarter rose by 27.6 per cent to US$606.2 million, bringing the total for the first nine months of 2025 to US$1.576 billion. Net income was down 7.3 per cent for the year-to-date due to some non-operational factors back in the first quarter that were unrelated to underlying business performance. Meanwhile, Simon’s ‘funds from operations’ (FFO), a non-GAAP real estate REIT metric that strips out depreciation (about 45 per cent of Simon’s total operating expenses), amounted to US$1.228 billion (+15.1 per cent) in the third quarter and US$3.421 billion (-1.9 per cent) year to date. Sales productivity edges up Operationally, US portfolio occupancy rose to 96.4 per cent, and minimum base rent increased by 2.5 per cent. Shopper traffic was strong during the quarter, and sales productivity climbed US$742 per square foot for the trailing 12 months, up from US$736 in the second quarter and US$737 in the third quarter of 2024. Portfolio numbers remain the same There were no new mall openings in the third quarter, at the end of which Simon’s retail portfolio comprised 193 malls, lifestyle centres, factory outlet centres and megamalls in the US, and 42 factory outlet centres and malls overseas. Of the 42 projects outside of the US, 19 are in Asia. The mood is all good Simon’s executive team is particularly bullish on 2026 as it sees significant leasing upside across its portfolio. Indeed, demand is sufficiently strong, both from the existing tenant base and new experiential retailers – Netflix, Formula One, Google and Pop Mart were specific names mentioned at the investor conference call on November 3 – that leasing operatives have been moving and downsizing even strong tenants in some malls to make way for new marquee arrivals. That can only be a good sign for the mall industry, which is managing a spectacular transformation from transactional to experiential retail. Further reading: Holding ground at home, betting on Asia: Inside Simon Property’s global strategy