Wellington, Feb 17 NZPA - The 12 New Zealand shopping malls owned by Australian company Westfield have declined in value to $NZ2.88 billion as at December 31, from $3 billion at the same time last year.

The company started by immigrant Frank Lowy in the western suburbs of Sydney in the 1950s today reported operating earnings of $A2.064b ($NZ2.63b) in the year to December 31.

A breakdown in the company's result showed the Albany mall in Auckland was valued at $373m, Chartwell in Hamilton at $138m, Downtown Auckland at $79.1m, Glenfield $122.5m, Manukau $320.3m, Newmarket $231.4m, Pakuranga $91.2m, Queensgate $340.5m, Shore City $100.3m, St Lukes $450.5m and WestCity $188.3m.

The redeveloped Riccarton Mall in Christchurch was worth $447m, up from $369.5m last year.

The malls collectively have 1723 retail outlets.

The estimated yield on the company's investments in New Zealand was between 6.8 percent and 8.6 percent, with a weighted average of 7.4 percent. The New Zealand average was higher than the Australian average of 6.1 percent, and higher than in any region the company operated in.