The surge in online shopping since the start of pandemic may have hurt many bricks-and-mortar retailers, but it has proved a positive for the country’s largest owner of neighbourhood and sub-regional centres.

SCA Property Group, which owns a $4 billion portfolio of malls anchored by supermarket giants Coles, Woolworths and Aldi, reported operating earnings of $159 million for the 2020 financial year, up 12.9 per cent, following a return to pre-COVID-19 cash collection rates and with fewer tenants requiring rental relief.