Group, the Australian shopping centre conglomerate, released its second half and full year results today. In the second half of the fiscal ended December 2009, Westfield reported a net income of A$250 million recovering from the loss of A$3.48 billion posted in the same period of previous fiscal.

The company returned to profit in the second half as there reported an increase in the earnings from its Australian malls and also in H2 the company saw good valuations for its properties. The company lost its earnings in the first half of the fiscal mainly because of the lower property valuations. There were a total write downs in the year worth A$3.5 billion.

Over all for the full year Westfield posted a loss of A$458 million while in the previous fiscal ended December 2008, the company posted a net loss of A$2.2 billion. However, the company reported an increase of 6.2% in its operating earnings for the year. Its operating earnings for the year were posted A$2.06 billion, while in previous fiscal operating earnings were reported A$1.94 billion. The increasing operating earnings are also seen as a sign of recovery in Australian retail spending.

Westfield is the world's largest owner of shopping centers by market value. The company operates malls in Australia, New Zealand, Britain and the United States.