Shopping after COVID-19

Kimco Realty's (KR) visitor levels are back to the original pre-pandemic levels CEO Conor Flynn said on this Thursday.

"Traffic is back to what it was in 2019 and at this point we have a programme of action that we will stick to," said Conor Flynn.

Kimco Realty manages about 400 shopping centres in the US, reported positive earnings for Q2 on Thursday. as StreetAccount notes, operating profit was 34 cents per share. Earnings of $289 million exceeded forecasts of $272 million.

The real estate investment trust also gave an elevated outlook for earnings and funds from operations for the full year 2021, saying Kimco Realty's operations have returned to pre-pandemic status faster than it anticipated. Also on Thursday, Kimco shares were up 2.2% to close at $21.23 apiece. The stock is up 41.44% since the start of 2021.

As Flynn noted, the mall has improved its capacity to serve customers in the way they choose. For example, delivery, self-delivery, online shopping.

"We are well geo-positioned being in a good location from a supply and demand perspective. Our company has pricing power, thanks to our rental spreads, and there is no new supply in the near future. I believe this is a great opportunity to show the future earnings growth that our Company expects," said CEO.

Also, the Chief executive officer said the company hopes to sign new leases that will help Kimco in the future and also expects $33 million in cash flow. In Q2, the company signed 333 leases for a total of 1.8 million square feet of total leasable area.

Flynn noted that the mall owner is seeing strong business, especially in home improvement shops such as Burlington Coat Factory (BCF), TJ Maxx (TM), and Ross Stores (RS). Kimco Realty has just recently gained new tenants, Conor added.

"There's a lot of new business in the market today and accordingly there's demand for it, but retail is still going strong," said Conor Flynn.