Finland's Citycon says malls weathered crisis well so far

Helsinki-based listed retail mall developer Citycon has so far weathered the financial crisis fairly well, with food and other non-cyclical items holding up well in its portfolio of shopping centres across Nordic nations, while its Estonian operation remains fairly stable considering severely weakened Baltic economies, says CEO Petri Olkinuara. The group, which counts the Israeli Gazit Globe as its major shareholder with 48%, has 75% of its investments and turnover in Finland, and only one-tenth of that in the Baltics. "Finland, Sweden are fairly OK in retail especially in the food sector, food trading and groceries... and the Baltics are presenting no major problems even if their economies are not doing that well and people are spending less money in the shops," he told PIE.