Retail investment: Wheat separated from chaff amid global upturn
• Union Investment’s Global Retail Attractiveness Index presents latest ranking of top 17 markets
• Czech Republic and Poland lead in Europe
• France, UK and Belgium rank lowest with major losses
• US is steadily establishing itself as top global market
• Positive consumer sentiment supports index worldwide
“One of the most important signals is the fact that the overall index for Europe in mid-2018 remains well above average at 110 points. The main drivers for the EU-12 index are the further improvement in consumer confidence and the consistently positive mood among retailers.”
Henrike Waldburg, Head of Investment Management Retail
Gap is getting wider
Buoyed by a positive outlook among consumers and retailers alike, the majority of retail markets worldwide remained in good or very good shape during the second quarter of 2018. The ongoing economic boom is creating a number of lucrative growth markets that offer diverse investment opportunities.
At the same time, the retail investment landscape is gradually being reshaped as the global upturn continues. In particular, there is a widening gap between investor-friendly retail markets with good fundamentals and markets where the early warning signs first became apparent two years ago.
As Union Investment’s Global Retail Attractiveness Index (GRAI) for Q2 2018 shows, the difference between the top performers and the weakest markets in Europe is now around 20 points. Compared with the previous analysis in Q4 2017, this gap is getting wider.
“The retail property sector is already experiencing a high degree of investor uncertainty,” said Henrike Waldburg, Head of Investment Management Retail at Union Investment: “So it’s vital to keep track of the very different patterns of regional development and to distinguish between markets that are trending positively for investors over the long term and ones that have severe structural deficiencies. The latest Global Retail Attractiveness Index can provide some useful pointers in this regard.”
Shooting stars in Europe: Czech Republic and Poland
According to the new GRAI, the most attractive retail markets in Europe in Q2 2018 are the two Eastern European countries, Poland and the Czech Republic, followed by two economies that were badly hit by the recent financial crisis: Ireland and Portugal.
Once again, Germany remains one of the top five markets in Europe. Of these five countries, only two have improved their index value year-on-year: the Czech Republic (+5 points) and Poland (+4 points) – the latter having been the top performer in Q4 2017. Significantly, the heaviest losses were suffered by mainland Europe’s economic heavyweights, Germany and France, each of which fell by seven points. While the slump in France was mainly due to inflation, Germany was hit by weak retail sales.
At the bottom in Europe: Belgium
Another change since the previous survey involves the new bottom three in the EU ranking: France, the UK and Belgium. At 99 points, Belgium is the only country in the current index to have slipped below the 100-point mark. The main reasons for this are the well below average outlook among Belgian retailers and weak growth in retail sales.
Having enjoyed comparatively stable growth since 2015, the 12-market European retail index lost ground during the past year, dropping a total of three points. This moderate decline was mainly due to the lack of growth in retail sales (sub-index: -12 points), and was evident in all 12 EU markets examined. The biggest losers in this particular sub-index were Austria (-25 points), Portugal (-22) and Germany (-17).
Biggest winner: South Korea
The generally positive outlook in the relevant retail markets around the world is also apparent in the North American and Asia-Pacific indexes. With 111 and 108 points respectively, both are performing well above average. The North America index is up two points over the second quarter of 2017, while Asia-Pacific has risen by one.
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“As in Canada, inflation has had a strong dampening effect in the US. However, the US is also experiencing a rise in retail sales, which combined with marked optimism on both the demand and supply side is creating an attractive investment environment.”
Henrike Waldburg, Head of Investment Management Retail
USA and Japan are heading the ranking
The international ranking is now headed by the US on 111 points (+2 points), followed by Japan on 110 points (-1 point) and Canada on 108 points (-4 points). The biggest winner is South Korea, which has climbed five points since Q2 2017.
With regard to transaction volumes, Union Investment expects retail investment over the next six months to be concentrated heavily in the top five European markets in the GRAI ranking plus the United States. “The European share of the invested capital will be around 75 per cent, perhaps even more,” said Henrike Waldburg. “In the other markets, we expect to see a further increase in caution among investors.”
Methodology of GRAI
Union Investment’s Global Retail Attractiveness Index (GRAI) measures the attractiveness of retail markets across a total of 17 countries in Europe, North America and the Asia-Pacific region. An index value of 100 points represents average performance. The EU-12 index combines the indexes for the following EU countries, weighted according to their respective population size: Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, Austria, the Netherlands, Belgium, Ireland, Portugal, Poland and the Czech Republic. The North America index comprises the US and Canada, while the Asia-Pacific index covers Japan, South Korea and Australia.
Compiled every six months by market research company GfK, the Global Retail Attractiveness Index consists of two sentiment indicators and two data-based indicators. All four factors are weighted equally in the index, at 25 per cent each. The index reflects consumer confidence as well as business retail confidence. As quantitative input factors, the GRAI incorporates changes in the consumer price index (inflation) and retail sales performance. After standardisation and transformation, each input factor has an average value of 100 points and a possible value range of 0 to 200 points. The index is based on the latest data from GfK, the European Commission, the OECD, Trading Economics, Eurostat and the respective national statistical offices. The changes indicated refer to the corresponding prior-year period (Q2 2017).
More about GRAI
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