Kuala Lumpur: Once movement restrictions are lifted, says analysts at AmBank Research, consumers will tend to revenge spend and gather.
This will fuel retail sales recovery from the second half of the year, along with pent-up consumer demand after the lockdowns are lifted.
“We maintain our OVERWEIGHT recommendation on the REIT sector. We believe retail REITs will largely be on a recovery path moving into 2H2021 as the economy reopens in stages.
“We assume the country’s economy is to reopen largely by the end of the year (which we believe is an opportune time to capture the year-end holiday season when people are most likely to spend).
“This is in line with our assumptions that domestic footfalls will fully recover by year-end or even exceed historical peaks as people are more likely to travel domestically while waiting for clarity on new regulations for international cross-border travel.
