美國第二大購物中心開發公司通用增長地產（General Growth Properties）的CEO最近的一番言論表明，購物中心真的已經處于瀕死狀態了。

通用增長地產在美國各大城市運營著不少購物中心，像拉斯維加斯的時尚秀購物中心（Fashion Show）、火奴魯魯的阿拉莫阿那購物中心（Ala Moana）都是它的旗下產業。該公司的CEO桑迪普?馬斯拉尼本周一宣稱，由于股市并沒有因為該公司旗下商場的品質而給予它更多的信心，因而他正在為公司尋找“戰略性的替代選擇”。這一言論也令不少投資者感到吃驚。

近日通用增長地產剛剛發布了季度財報，在該公司旗下已建成的商場中，空間占用率已經達到了95.9%。然而由于很多投資者認為購物中心已是明日黃花，加之最近一些零售業的巨頭扎堆破產關店，導致投資者對購物中心產業整體信心不足，嚴重挫傷了通用增長地產及其主要競爭對手——西蒙地產集團（Simon Property Group）等大型商超運營公司的股價。從后者上周發布的財報中可以看，西蒙地產集團的空間占用率也和通用增長地產差不多。

零售業近來的動蕩使購物中心類的股票全面下滑，連主要經營高端購物中心的通用增長地產和西蒙地產集團也難以幸免。通用增長地產的股價已經從去年6月的高位下滑了28%，西蒙地產集團的股價也遭受了相似的打擊。

馬斯拉尼在一次電話會議上表示：“公開市場和非公開市場的股價都出現了嚴重減值，總體情況要比公司當前股價所能反映的還要嚴峻。”“戰略性替代選擇”在企業界通常就是將公司出售的委婉說法，所以當被追問到有無出售公司的計劃時，馬斯拉尼只說了一句：“沒什么是碰不得的。”他還表示，公司可能會出售旗下的部分資產，并且進行一次特別分紅，同時也會積極采取其他措施。

一般來說，企業都是通過召開新聞發布會的方式公告這些重大聲明，而不會選擇在電話會議上發表這些言論。不過這條消息一出，本周一、周二兩天，通用增長地產的股票仍然應聲上漲。

通用增長地產和西蒙地產集團的日子從好幾年前起就不太好過了，他們各自都已出售和剝離了一些業績不良的資產。由于這個假日購物季各大商超的業績十分凄慘，今年一月，就連梅西百貨、J.C. Penny和西爾斯等零售業巨頭也分別關閉了幾十家門店。與此同時，Aéropostale、Bebe Stores、金佰利（Gymboree）和J.Crew等商超大戶也深陷泥潭。因此不難看出投資者對商超類股票為何如何謹慎。（值得注意的是，在西蒙地產集團和通用增長地產運營的購物中心里，梅西百貨的門店是相對關停得較少的。）

另外，近幾個季度，就連諾德斯特龍（Nordstrom）和內曼馬庫斯（Neiman Marcus）等高端連鎖購物中心的銷量也走向疲軟，這充分說明高端商超也一樣面臨危險。大體來看，一些業績較好的購物中心經營公司在收回關停的梅西百貨或西爾斯百貨的店面空間后，能夠更為靈活地將原有面積改作他用。不過隨著各大商超百貨關店破產的速度在今年明顯提高，投資者顯然抱有更加謹慎的心態。

雖然近來公司股價下跌嚴重，不過馬斯拉尼指出，通用增長地產的股市價值（在最近的一輪回升后約為200億美元）依然低于旗下資產的總值，這也讓他感到不解和沮喪。他表示：“投資者應該投資擁有全美國最好的零售地產的公司。”不過同時，他也表示他認識到了自己對投資者的責任。

他表示：“我們要給股東帶來價值。現在我們的拆賣價值依然高于當前的股市市值。我們的業務還很堅挺，我們很快會找到辦法的。（財富中文網）

譯者：樸成奎

The CEO of the No. 2 U.S. mall developer General Growth Properties (ggp, -2.65%) has had it with the narrative that shopping centers are dying.

Sandeep Mathrani, CEO of the owner of such malls as Fashion Show in Las Vegas, and Ala Moana in Honolulu, surprised investors on Monday when he said he was looking at "strategic alternatives" for company, frustrated that the stock market wasn't giving his company more credit for the quality of the malls in GGP's portfolio.

The company had just reported its quarterly financial results, which included occupancy of 95.9% of space at its established malls. Still, the idea among many investors that malls are in trouble, bolstered by a surge of headline-grabbing retail bankruptcies and mass store closings by top retailers, has taken hold, hurting the stocks of mall owners like GGP and its larger rival Simon Property Group, which last week reported a similar occupancy. (spg, -1.90%)

All the agita around retail has been a drag on mall stocks, even those of GGP and Simon, both of which operate primarily high quality, productive malls: GGP shares are down about 28% off a multi-year high hit last June. Simon has taken a similar beating.

"There is a wide discount between public and private markets," Mathrani said on the conference call. "The sum of the parts is far greater than GGP's current stock price. We are reviewing all strategic alternatives to bridge the gap." When pushed on whether "strategic alternatives" could mean a sale of the company, as the term usually implies in corporate jargon, Mathrani would only say "There is no sacred cow." He also suggested the company could sell off some assets and offer a special dividend, among other options.

Typically, companies make such dramatic pronouncements in a press release, rather than in comments on a call. But the news sent shares up on Monday and Tuesday.

Both companies saw trouble coming years ago, shedding weaker malls by selling them or spinning them of in another real estate investment trust. Still, with major anchors like Macy's (m, -1.15%), J.C. Penney (jcp, +0.92%) and Sears (shld, -2.61%), each announcing dozens of store closings in January after an abysmal holiday season, and mall stalwarts like Aéropostale, Bebe Stores, Gymboree, and J.Crew struggling, it's easy to see why investors are cautious about malls. (It's worth noting that relatively few of the Macy's stores that are closing are in a Simon or GGP mall.)

What's more, the weak comparable sales at luxury chains like Nordstrom (jwn, +2.06%) and Neiman Marcus in recent quarters show that even high end malls face some peril. On the whole, the better mall developers have deftly repurposed space they've taken back from a Macy's or Sears. But there is clearly caution in the air since closings and bankruptcies have accelerated this year.

Still, Mathrani said GGP's stock market value ($20 billion after this recent increase) was below the cumulative value of its properties, something he finds perplexing and frustrating. "Investors should invest with companies that own the best retail real estate in the U.S.," he said. At the same time, he recognized his obligation to investors.

"We will get value to our shareholders," he said. "The break-up value is more than the current market capitalization. Business is strong. We will pick a path soon."