Australias Westfield plans $۴.۷ bln British expansion

Westfield, one of the world's biggest shopping centre operators, could also redevelop a shopping centre south of London, it said.

" They are big numbers, headline numbers, but we have already invested almost ۴.۰ billion pounds sterling in two major shopping centres in London over the past few years, " Lowy told the newspaper.

" We have plans for further investment in those assets and for other expansion. "

Lowy said Westfield would continue to sell off lower - quality assets in favour of upmarket projects, such as the sprawling Westfield London, which opened in ۲۰۰۸.

" While the UK is still in recession and has been deeply impacted by the global financial crisis in Europe, London in particular has been shown to be a very resilient city, as has Paris(and) the major cities in Germany, " he said.

" We believe in London for the long term. "

Westfield has investment interests in ۱۱۱ shopping malls in Australia, the United States, New Zealand, Brazil and Britain where it also has Westfield Stratford next to London ' s Olympic park.

Westfield posted a full-year net profit of Aus$1.53 billion (US$1.60 billion) in February, a 37.6 percent increase on the previous year.