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Westfield London’s extension to open early

Westfield: The malls giant is expanding in London: Oli Scarff/Getty Images
Westfield: The malls giant is expanding in London: Oli Scarff/Getty Images

Westfield’s £600 million expansion of its White City shopping centre will open six months ahead of schedule, the Australian malls giant said on Wednesday.

The firm said customers at Westfield London will have an extra 740,000 square feet of shops, restaurants and leisure space to visit from March 2018.

That brings its total size to 2.6 million square feet. The extension will boast a new branch of John Lewis, which will join retailers such as Calzedonia, Cath Kidston and House of Fraser at the existing site.

It is one of a number of expansions the group is working on.

The landlord, which also runs a huge site in Stratford, gave the construction update as it revealed profits rose 20% to $589 million (£456 million) in the six months to June 30.

Westfield is trying to counter the rise of online shopping by bringing more restaurants, cinemas and activity brands into its centres.

Co-chief executives Peter and Steven Lowy said in a statement: “In a challenging retail environment, the performance for the first half was good.”