Morning, welcome to Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield's 2022 full year results presentation. In 2022, our strong operations and continued deleveraging provided a powerful platform for progress against all of our strategic objectives. Our group-wide performance drove increased earnings, which combined with EUR 2.8 billion of European and U.S. disposals, has translated into improved credit metrics and a net debt to EBITDA ratio lower than 2019 levels. This performance is reflected in consistently increasing operating metrics, also now at 2019 levels, demonstrating the full recovery of our business. Commercial partnerships revenues increased 51% versus 2021, slightly above 2019, we achieved strong growth in media advertising and brand experience. Our convention and exhibition activity has rebounded strongly, our office division delivered a 20% like-for-like increase in NRI.
We continued our strong ESG performance and are on track to achieve all of our Better Places 2030 targets. We are also able to play our part in countering the European energy crisis, reducing consumption beyond our own targets and exceeding government requirements. We start the year from a position of significant strength and are confident URW will continue to perform in 2023. This position of strength is underpinned by our Better Places 2030 ESG strategy. Important to keep in mind, our greenhouse gas emission reduction targets are approved by the Science Based Targets initiative, which align us with the 1.5 degree limit set out in the Paris Agreement. With ESG fully embedded in our decision-making and remuneration criteria, Better Places 2030 covers the entire value chain, and our ratings reflect that.
URW is recognized by all measure indices, covering both real estate specific and all sector ratings for climate sustainability and governance. We are on track to meet all of our targets, including cutting carbon emissions by 50% by 2030. Regarding energy intensity, thanks to the decisive actions taken in the context of the energy crisis, I am pleased to share that we have surpassed our 15% target in Europe, achieving a total reduction of 19.8% in 2022. The group is absolutely committed to the role that it plays in combating climate change and contributing to the environmental transition of cities. We look forward to sharing a step change evolution of our ESG strategy in the second half of the year that will include our own path to carbon neutrality. 2022 has been a very good year for Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield in a challenging environment.
The contribution of all business divisions resulted in a 30% increase in the EBITDA and almost 35% year-on-year increase in Adjusted Recurring EPS to EUR 9.31. Our European EBITDA reached 95% of 2019 levels, and we are on track to achieve the 2024 target set at our Investor Day in March 2022. Thanks to the disposals executed in Europe and the U.S. last year, we achieved a EUR 1.9 billion reduction in net debt. Our net debt to EBITDA ratio, which reflects both our strong operational performance and our debt reduction, is down from 13.7x in 2021 to 9.6x this year, below the 9.9x in 2019.
These results come from the progressive improvement in all operating metrics since the peak of the COVID crisis, which for our sector was in H1 2021. Tenant sales at group level reached 2019 levels in the first half of 2022 before exceeding them in H2. Rent collection has normalized, while collection from previous periods has also improved. Our vacancy has consistently decreased, leading to a strong improvement in MGR uplift. These results demonstrate the underlying strength of the business, the quality of our operations, and the attractiveness of our assets. I am happy to say this performance confirms the end of the acute impact of COVID on our business, and therefore, 2022 will be the base for year-on-year operating metric comparisons in 2023. As well as returning to pre-COVID levels, tenant sales at our assets have outperformed the market in all regions.
Through the pandemic, large shopping centers were some of the first to close in Europe and in the U.S. and the last to reopen. We generally suffered more restrictions than other types of retail. While it is normal to see a strong rebound in sales upon reopening based on this level of impact, the recovery clearly shows the loyalty of our customers, the strength of our portfolio, and the enduring appeal of our assets. We have always been confident and shared with you our ability to get sales back to 2019 levels and then grow from there. In 2022, sales exceeded 2019 on a full year basis on the back of consistently improving footfall and the positive impact of inflation.
This also translates into a strong increase in sales-based rents, up 60% on last year. In Europe, tenant sales are at 100% of 2019 levels for the year and trending higher at 102% in H2. U.S. tenant sales have been consistently above 2019 levels since H2 2021, with sales now at 108%. This goes up to 114% if you exclude our two central business district locations in New York and San Francisco, which are still impacted by work from home trends. If you look at other viable income, which is even more influenced by the level and quality of footfall, we see a clear revenue improvement. This demonstrates that we have held onto unique customers and that we are seeing a more productive, loyal shopper driving increased sales.
Parking revenues and marketing service also suggests that customers are increasing their dwell time up to 30% depending on the type of location. These strong trends are illustrated across our portfolio, even in the face of a challenging macroeconomic environment. Let's look at Westfield Stratford City, an asset that is operating in an environment with high inflation and falling consumer confidence. Even in this context, it enjoys strong performance with tenant sales exceeding 2019 levels as early as the second quarter. Footfall is now at 93% of pre-COVID levels, outperforming the U.K. average published by the British Retail Consortium by 5 percentage points. This resilience, indicative of our broader portfolio, gives us confidence that we will continue to enjoy healthy sales and traffic levels going forward. Major retailers see this and are committing to our assets in terms of expansion and bringing new concepts.
At Westfield Stratford, our performance is driving lower vacancy figures down to 5.5% in December 2022, while we delivered a 13.5% uplift in MGR. Looking at the overall portfolio, the performance is just as impressive. Here you can see the success of our proactive leasing strategy with group vacancy down to 6.5%, leading to the return of commercial tension and most importantly, higher MGR. With the same level of activity as in 2019 and 2021, we have signed a higher volume of long-term deals driving this overall MGR increase. Long-term leases represent 68% of MGR signed last year, up 7 percentage points on 2021. Having secured major anchor tenants for larger units in 2021, in 2022, we focused our leasing efforts on small and medium-sized units at higher rents.
These deals represented almost three-quarters of GLA signed. We delivered a 6.2% MGR uplift on all deals and a significant 14.4% uplift on deals over 36 months. This proactivity also extends to how we upgrade, diversify, and refresh our tenant mix. Our rotation rate, which represent the proportion of new lettings and renewals with new concepts over our total number of stores, is back to a strong 11%. This demonstrates our ability to bring new and innovative concepts to refresh our offer and meet consumer demand. Our top retailers continue to expand and upgrade their stores with us. In Europe, we signed 114 deals with our top 50 retailers by GLA for a store size that is 13% above the average size of their URW store portfolio.
Amongst these leases, I want to highlight Zara at Westfield Donau Zentrum, who upgraded their store to a 4,000 sq m flagship, and JD Sports who expanded their store at Westfield Stratford to almost 5,000 sq m. Major retailers are growing with us, increasing the importance of our assets as they optimize their online and offline operations. Last week, JD Sports announced its plans to invest heavily in their store network and in data analytics and technology to better understand their customers and push omnichannel services like click and collect. The type of investment JD Sports is making is playing out across the sector as retail decision-making is centered on the drive to store strategy. The role of the physical store continues to grow.
Many retailers are closing underperforming stores to concentrate on their most productive locations that drive offline and online profitability, exactly what we are providing them with. This network optimization is accelerating as retailers pursue their omnichannel drive to store strategies. A drive to store strategy is based on improving store productivity and cost savings, which in turn optimizes profitability globally by pushing customers to collect and return online purchases in store, while also leveraging store networks to lower customer acquisition costs. Here you can see how these strategies have a transformative impact on margins and store economics. 2/3 of click and collect users end up buying additional items in store, optimizing sales performance while retailers save on last-mile delivery, which accounts for more than half of e-commerce delivery costs for retailers.
For in-store returns, 15%-30% of customers make an additional purchase, retailers reduce their associated logistic cost by around 75%. This means that the increasing role of store networks to drive profitability in an omnichannel world and the quality of our customer base gives us more leverage in our negotiations as a landlord. With the growth of retail media in a cookieless world, we are leveraging the quality customer base and our increasing footfall to drive the evolution of our commercial partnerships revenues. At group level, we have delivered EUR 175 million versus EUR 116 million in 2021 and above 2019 levels. In Europe, we launched Westfield Rise, a one-stop shop for brands and media buyers to create innovative and measurable campaigns using URW's platform of best-in-class retail media assets and have advanced our plan to better qualify our audience.
This has delivered a net margin of EUR 46 million in 2022, up 52% compared to 2021. We are on track to generate our target of EUR 75 million in annual net margin by 2024. When you look at this performance in revenue per visit terms, you see an increase from EUR 0.05- EUR 0.07 per visit. This demonstrate that we are making progress increasing revenues based on the quality of our audience, as well as leveraging our increasing footfall. This gives us confidence in strong growth beyond our plan horizon. We have also made progress delivering our committed development pipeline with tight CapEx control in a tough operating environment, particularly as a result of cost inflation. We opened the final phase of our Les Ateliers Gaîté regeneration project in the Montparnasse district of Paris, which is now 93% let.
We densified the existing site with new residential use, expanded the office and retail components, and refurbished the Pullman Hotel, all while reducing overall energy intensity from heating by 40% despite a 30% increase in total floor area. In the U.S., we delivered the extension of Westfield Topanga on the site of a former Sears department store, which received LEED Platinum certification. Here, we offer a new indoor and outdoor dining, entertainment, and luxury district with new tenants, including Hermès, Dior, and Valentino. The project is opening in phases and is 87% let. In the U.K., we have just delivered the first phase of Coppermaker Square, our second build-to-rent residential development in London, which is a joint venture partnership with PSP Investments and QuadReal Property Group.
These projects demonstrate our ability to unlock value in our assets with developments that also make a contribution to the regeneration of the cities and communities we serve. Now on to our deleveraging progress, which led to a direct EUR 1.8 billion IFRS net debt reduction in 2022 in an unfavorable investment market. These disposals were made with low discounts to appraisers and a 5.6% global net initial yield. In 2022, we delivered EUR 1.6 billion of disposals in Europe, reaching EUR 3.2 billion of our EUR 4 billion disposal plan, and we will secure the remaining EUR 0.8 billion during 2023. In the U.S., we sold EUR 1.2 billion of assets at 100% in what were some of the few sizable transactions in that market over the past three to four years.
We continue to streamline our U.S. regional portfolio, and we are ready to execute on the radical reduction of our financial exposure as the investment market improves. Given current conditions, we don't expect a major market improvement before H2 2023, when central banks should see the positive effects of their policies, providing more visibility on the evolution of interest rates for investors. The disposal process is supported by our strong operational performance and liquidity position, which enables us to execute at the right time and in an orderly manner. Going forward, we are confident in the appeal of the retail asset class for investors over their prior focus on other asset classes such as logistics and offices.
This confidence is based on the demonstrated resilience of the business model, the edging protection it has against inflation, and the repricing of retail assets, which has taken place over the last three years. Before I hand over to Fabrice, I just want to align our 2020 results with the targets we announced at our Investor Day last year. In our core business, our operations are back to 2019 levels, a testament to the quality of our assets and teams. We are committed to our deleveraging plan and our radical reduction of financial exposure in the U.S. and are making progress towards our target of around a 40% loan-to-value ratio.
Regarding new revenues, with the launch of Westfield Rise, we are confident we will achieve our target of EUR 75 million in net margin in Europe by 2024, and we are delivering our committed pipeline with tight CapEx control while preparing to add accretive new projects that unlock value with very low pre-development expenses. With that, I will now hand it over to Fabrice.
Thank you, Jean-Marie, and good morning, everyone. In 2022, our second half performance confirmed the trend seen in the second quarter with an ongoing improvement in terms of tenant sales, leasing activity and vacancy. Leading to a strong operating result for the year. This, combined with the ongoing debt reduction from our de-leveraging plan, drove a significant improvement in the group's financial ratios. Adjusted recurring earnings for 2022 were EUR 9.31 per share, a 34.7% increase on 2021. Our guidance for the year was at least EUR 9.10 per share and a strong end to the year in terms of rent collection and variable income was a key contributor. EBITDA increased by 30% with a 27% like-for-like growth in net rental income across all activities.
The drivers of our AREP growth in 2022 are fully aligned with those shared at our Investor Day last year. The main one was, of course, the improvement in the shopping center result, which includes the end of COVID rent relief, representing EUR 1.54 per share. This mainly benefited our performance in the first half. The increased shopping center result will also includes the positive underlying operating performance of our standing assets, as well as the contribution of assets delivered in 2021 and 2022. The growth also includes the recovery of the Convention & Exhibition net operating income, representing almost EUR 1 per share at 100% and half of that at group share. This performance is partly offset by the mechanical increase in taxes and contribution to minority interest, as well as the impact of disposals.
It also includes a very small increase in financial expenses. While interest rates increased significantly in H2, this was largely mitigated by the group's hedging program. In total, excluding COVID rent relief, AREP growth would be +13%. Moving now to net rental income for shopping centers. On a like-for-like basis, NRI was up 21.5%. The end of COVID-19 rent relief resulted in a +13.7% contribution. Excluding this factor, like-for-like NRI was up 7.8%. Renewals and relettings, net of departures, remain impacted by negative rental uplift on short-term deals and the lagging effect of vacancy reduction. This was more than compensated by the 2.3% increase in sales-based rents, driven by the recovery in activity, our proactive leasing strategy during the pandemic, and to some extent, by inflation.
The other category increased by 6.6%, thanks to lower doubtful debtor provisions in 2022, the reversal mainly in H1 of provisions made in prior years, as well as higher variable income from parking and commercial partnerships. In terms of regional like-for-like performance, excluding COVID rent relief, the U.S. was a key driver of more than 10%, while growth in the U.K. was over 2%, improving from a negative result in the first half. 2022 performance was supported by our ability to pass on inflation via indexation and sales-based rents. As a reminder, URW's rents in Continental Europe are all indexed and have historically tracked the evolution of inflation with a circa one-year delay as rental indexation in a given year is usually based on the inflation of the previous year.
Indexation made a +3.6% contribution to 2022 rental NRI like-for-like performance in Continental Europe above the inflation seen in 2021. While U.K. and U.S. leases are not indexed, we benefited indirectly from high inflation through sales-based rents. Sales-based rents increased by 97% in the U.K., representing 9.2% of NRI, compared to 5.5% in 2021. In the U.S., SBR increased by 64%, representing 21.5% of NRI, compared to 15.9% last year. Looking ahead, we expect to pass on the majority of 2022 inflation in 2023 through indexation as retailers continue to perform and drive customers to their prime stores to protect margins, as demonstrated by Jean-Marie. Inflation is also a factor when it comes to tenant service charges in Europe.
Thanks to a range of proactive measures, we've been able to keep 2022 charges stable versus 2019, the most relevant comparative year. This compares to a total inflation of around 13% over the same period. Measures included securing 2022 energy prices in advance, as well as our energy consumption savings of circa 20% from both our better pricing strategy and our additional commitment to reduce energy intensity to support government initiatives. We're able to limit the increase in energy costs for tenants to just 8%. Savings on other costs, such as cleaning and security, were achieved. Service charges are expected to increase in 2023 from this low basis, driven by increased energy costs, which represent around a quarter of the total.
We will continue to work on further cost savings and energy consumption reductions in order to limit the impact. Overall, it's worth noting that the service charges only represented 15% of the total occupational cost in 2022 for retailers in Europe. Our portfolio of shopping centers located in the best catchment areas also offer protection against the impact of inflation on consumption. This slide shows our top 12 Westfield-branded assets in Europe, which together represent around 50% of our European retail GMV. These assets have a combined catchment area of 85 million people with a purchasing power per capita that is more than 30% higher than the European average. As demonstrated by Jean-Marie with the example of Westfield Stratford, asset performance is resilient even when the purchasing power per capita is closer to the average.
This explains the appeal for retailers of a portfolio concentrated in the best catchment areas and gives us confidence that the group will continue to perform even in tougher macroeconomic conditions, as we have done in the past, including during the great financial crisis. Moving next to rent collection, which has now returned to pre-COVID levels of 97%. These improved collection rates had a positive impact on 2022 doubtful debtor provisions. In parallel, we collected over EUR 250 million of unpaid rents relating to 2021, mainly in the first half of 2022. This led to an improvement of 2021 rent collection from 88% in February 2022 to 93% in February 2023. This translated into a reversal of provisions of EUR 45.6 million, positively affecting 2022 accounts.
Bankruptcies declined further in 2022 as operating conditions normalized. The 203 stores affected by bankruptcies in 2022 represent just 1.7% of total stores, down from 2.4% in 2021. H2 2022 bankruptcy levels were up year-over-year, reflecting some increasing pressure on weaker retailers, but remained below the multi-year average. Our watch list of retailers has slightly increased compared to 2021, but is in line with the one in 2019. In the case of bankruptcies where the retailer did not pay the rents, like Camaïeu in France, there was no P&L impact thanks to the full provisioning of the rents. Once again, thanks to the quality of our assets, tenants remained in place or were replaced in 80% of the units affected.
Overall group vacancy continued to track downwards from its peak in H1 2021 and is now at 6.5% for the group. The Continental European vacancy rate is 3.1%. This is below year-end 2021 levels in all countries with the exception of Austria, which already has extremely low vacancy at 1.7%. U.K. vacancies decreased year-over-year from 10.6%-9.4% and are with high levels at Westfield London being addressed through repurposing strategies as outlined at the half year. U.S. levels continue to decrease at 10.4%, down by 60 basis points from December 2021.
U.S. flagship vacancy, marked with a black line on the chart, decreased by 110 basis points to 8.2%, close to the pre-COVID levels of 7.9%. Higher occupancy was driven by dynamic leasing activity with a focus on achieving improved rental values and longer duration. This translated into higher MGR signed in 2022 at EUR 441 million +26% compared to 2021 and +14% compared to 2019. As highlighted by Jean-Marie, this increase is driven by a higher proportion of deals on small and medium-sized units with high rents per square meter. The continued increase in the proportion of long-term deals was most evident in the U.S., which jumped from 47% to 62%. We see clear demand from retailers in a normalizing market as tenant sales improve.
This demand is also visible in the rental value achieved, which are consistently improving half a half as we moved away from the COVID crisis. Uplift on all deals returned to positive territory in H1 2022 at +2.7% and accelerated to +9.6% in H2 2022. This performance was driven by the higher proportion of long-term deals, but also by higher uplift on these deals, reflecting improving pricing tensions as vacancy decreases. In the U.S., the sharp increase in MGR uplift is explained by long-term renewals and relatings at terms significantly higher than the short-term deals signed during the COVID period. We are also securing lettings with new tenants able to pay higher rents, especially in the luxury sector.
In line with previous periods, the negative uplift on short-term deals signed in 2021 was almost fully compensated by higher SBR levels in 2022. Moving now to occupancy cost ratios, which have become a more relevant metric in 2022 as the situation normalized. 2022 OCR is below pre-COVID levels in Continental Europe, the U.K., and the U.S., despite the effect of 2022 indexation and sales still impacted by COVID in Q1 in Europe. In the U.K., the OCR is higher due to the business rates, which will go down mechanically in 2023 with a review of business rates levels. As we have demonstrated during the Investor Day, the OCR has to be put in perspective with the sales intensity at our locations.
This is almost 20% higher than the comparable market of AMORs in Continental Europe, almost 50% higher in the U.K., and 12% higher in the U.S. In addition, as highlighted by Jean-Marie, retailers drive to store strategy generate additional sales and substantial savings given the increasing last-mile delivery costs faced by retailers for the online sales. The benefits from click and collect and in-store product returns, which were limited in 2019, are major today and are not reflected in the 2022 OCR. Estimating this additional volume of activity generated in stores, the OCR would be below figures presented on this slide by up to three percentage points. The strong performance of our retail assets in 2022 was mirrored at our offices portfolio.
Offices NRI reached EUR 70 million, a 16% increase, including the delivery of Pullman Montparnasse and Gaîté offices, partly offset by the disposal of Solna Centrum and Le Village. On a like-for-like basis, NRI was up 44.2% in France and 23.2% on a group basis. Leasing progress at Trinity, now let at 74% with an average rent close to the highest secured for La Défense, was the main driver of this like-for-like progression. We also made progress on the letting of development projects. We signed a nine-year firm lease for 25,000 sq m of the Lightwell project in La Défense, representing an 80% pre-letting. Works on this project were launched in the second half of 2022, with 85% of construction costs secured for an expected delivery in 2024.
URW also signed an 8,000 sq m lease with Shell, representing almost a third of the office space in Westfield, Hamburg, also to be delivered in 2024. This demonstrate the appeal for well-located assets with high sustainability ratings and URW's know-how and track record of delivering these projects. This gives us confidence in our ability to seize additional development opportunities for obsolete offices in drastic need for retrofitting. To convention and exhibition. After a Q1 still impacted by COVID, C&E activity has seen a strong recovery with 617 events held in 2022, 14% lower than 2018, above our expectations. Net operating income generated by these events was higher than in 2018, thanks to a different mix with larger events and higher prices. Pre-bookings for 2023 reached 86% of 2019, the last comparable year.
This supports our projection of a return to normal activity in 2023 ahead of an expected build-up to the 2024 Paris Olympics towards the end of the year. The return of C&E activity is reflected in our 2022 results. Recurring net operating income amounted to EUR 190 million compared to EUR 55 million in 2021, impacted by COVID, and EUR 165 million in 2018. 2022 figures include a EUR 25 million contribution from the French state to compensate for pandemic-related periods of closure. Excluding these subsidies and restated for the triennial shows held in 2018 and 2022, C&E 2022 NOI was 3% above 2018, the last comparable year. 2022 results also benefited from the shift of certain biannual shows from odd to even years.
This seasonality will translate into lower NOI for the C&E activity in 2023. Moving next to our portfolio values, which stand at EUR 52.2 billion, a 4.1% decrease versus year-end 2021. This primarily comes from the effect of the EUR 1.8 billion of disposals. Portfolio values saw a like-for-like decrease of circa EUR 1.3 billion or 2.7% compared to last year. This is offset by EUR 0.9 billion of CapEx. FX had a positive impact of EUR 0.4 billion, thanks to the strengthening of the U.S. dollar, though lower than the FX impact registered in H1. This evolution in values translated into a 2.4% decrease in net reinstatement value compared to last year. This decrease in valuation was mitigated by the retained recurring results and positive currency moves.
In total, net reinstatement value stood at EUR 155.70 per share at the end of 2022. Focusing now on retail valuations. The like-for-like value of the retail portfolio decreased by 2.6% in 2022. Since 2018, the group's retail portfolio valuation has been adjusted downward by 19% on a like-for-like basis. Continental Europe valuations are down 0.6% in 2022 and - 13% since 2018. These valuations have been impacted by an increase in exit cap and discount rates of 50-60 basis points, mitigated by high indexation level and improvement in 2022 operating performance. U.K. valuations saw a 5.4% decline in 2022 and an overall decrease of 45% since 2018.
This is due to an increase in discount rate and exit cap rate of more than 200 basis points and a 19% reduction in exit year NRI compared to 2018 valuations. U.S. assets were down 7.4% in 2022 and 27% since 2018. Appraisers increased the discount rate by 90 basis points and the exit cap rate by 40 basis points over the period. They also decreased their NRI exit year assumption by 12%, despite the recovery in tenant sales, leasing activity, and occupancy seen in 2022, in particular for flagship assets.
This decrease in values, combined with higher rents, resulted in an increase in net initial yield in Continental Europe from 4.2% in 2018 to 4.9% in 2022. 2022 valuations reflect a higher net initial yield, but also higher NRI growth potential with a 10-year CAGR assumed at 4% by appraisers above the 2018 assumptions. The net initial yield for our U.K. portfolio now stand at 6.1%, a 180 basis points increase compared to 2018 for what are considered the two best retail assets in the market. The net initial yield for U.S. assets has increased from 4% in 2018 to 4.6% in 2022. U.S. valuations also show a higher net initial yield, combined with higher rental growth prospects at an average of 5% for flagship assets.
Compared to other asset classes, the net initial yield of URW's retail portfolio is higher as the adjustment in value started earlier and did not benefit from lower rates over the 2020, 2018, 2021 period. The impact of rates increase in 2022 was therefore more limited on URW's assets and compensated by rental growth prospects as well as COVID recovery. Moving now to financial ratios. IFRS net financial debt decreased from EUR 22.6 billion to EUR 20.7 billion over the course of the year. This circa EUR 2 billion decrease is mainly a result of the EUR 1.8 billion of disposals and EUR 1.3 billion of retained earnings, partly offset by a EUR 0.2 billion negative FX impact, as well as a EUR 0.9 billion spent in CapEx in 2022.
Despite the slight decrease in values mentioned earlier, the loan-to-value ratio decreased from 43.3% to 41.2%. As a result, URW's key credit ratios demonstrated a massive improvement in the year, thanks to the strong operational performance and our deleveraging achievements. Our net debt to EBITDA ratio has improved from 14.6x in 2020 to 13.7x in 2021 and to 9.6x in 2022, now below its 2019 level. As our debt continues to decrease and EBITDA recovers, we expect to see continued improvements in these ratios. Our financial debt is fully hedged against interest rate evolutions in the coming years based on the group's disposal plan. The increase in rates and spread in 2022 led to a positive mark-to-market of the debt and the financial instruments.
As a result, the net disposal value, NAV, which includes this mark-to-market, has significantly increased to EUR 148.40 per share, up 34.5% in December 2022 compared to December 2021. The efficiency of our hedging program was evidenced in 2022 with a cost of debt in line with 2021 levels, even in an increasing interest rate environment. URW's cost of debt at 2% is consistent with the sensitivity analysis presented in H1. We should continue to benefit in 2023 from hedging in place and from the increased remuneration of the group's cash placement, allowing us to keep our 2023 cost of debt close to current levels. URW continued to access credit markets in 2022, raising EUR 1.7 billion of debt on a proportionate basis.
This included mortgage debt and corporate bank debt, of which circa 75% was sustainability-linked. During 2022, we also published our updated Green Financing Framework, self-imposing higher standards on energy performance and project eligibility criteria. Thanks to the funds raised and the disposals completed, the group strengthens its liquidity position with EUR 3.5 billion of cash on hand compared to EUR 2.4 billion last year. Together with EUR 9.7 billion of undrawn credit facilities, the group has EUR 13.2 billion in available cash and undrawn credit lines at the end of 2022. The group's average debt maturity stand at 8.3 years. Thanks to this liquidity, we have the resources to cover all our debt maturities for the next three years, even in a scenario where we make no further disposals nor raise any new financing.
Our cash in hand and undrawn credit facilities would amount to EUR 7.9 billion at the end of 2025. The group's debt maturities over the next three years amount to EUR 6.2 billion in total, i.e., a net position of EUR 1.7 billion. This does not include the EUR 1.25 billion hybrid with a call date as from 2023. Regarding the hybrid, the group will make a decision regarding its call option ahead of the first reset date in October 2023 and will provide an update at the half year results. Moving to development. The total investment cost of the group's pipeline decreased slightly to EUR 3.1 billion compared to December 2021, mainly as a result of deliveries was EUR 0.4 billion.
The averaging of these deliveries stands at 88% as at January 31st, 2022. Development costs increased by EUR 0.3 billion in 2022 as a result of inflation, mainly within our Hamburg mixed-use project. 84% of the Hamburg project costs to be delivered in 2024 have now been signed. The retail component is now 73% let, up from 47% last year. Committed projects amount to EUR 2.4 billion, of which EUR 1.2 billion has already been invested. The deliveries for 2023 includes five projects currently prelet at 81% with a total investment cost of EUR 0.3 billion. A quick update on deleveraging before I hand back to Jean-Marie. We made good progress in 2022 and have a clear focus for 2023.
We secure the remaining EUR 0.8 billion of our European disposal target and continue to streamline our remaining U.S. regional asset portfolio. URW is committed to the radical reduction of its financial exposure to the U.S., a process that is supported by strong operational performance and the group's liquidity, as demonstrated earlier. We'll deliver our committed pipeline, deploying a remaining EUR 1.2 billion of CapEx in the coming years. Complying with the commitments made in 2021, the group will not pay a dividend for fiscal year 2022. It remains our intention to reinstate the dividend for fiscal year 2023 to be paid in 2024, taking into consideration operational performance, credit metrics, and delivering progress in the year ahead. That is all for me. Back to Jean-Marie for some closing remarks on 2023 outlook.
Thank you, Fabrice. Before we open up for questions, I want to cover our 2023 guidance. We expect Adjusted Recurring EPS to be between EUR 9.30 and EUR 9.50. The main drivers of these are consistent performance in our retail operations versus 2022, with inflation protection through indexation and sales-based rental. The impact of large event scheduling changes in 2022, leading to a naturally lower Convention & Exhibition activity in 2023. The full year effect of 2022 disposals, the impact of U.S. regional streamlining and the European disposal program. Obviously, the contribution of 2022 and 2023 development project deliveries.
This guidance does not include major disposals in the U.S., which are part of our radical reduction of U.S. financial exposure, and the group assumes no major energy related restrictions, no major deterioration to the macroeconomic and geopolitical environment. We have always been clear and shared with you that our business would get back to 2019 levels and grow from there. We accomplished this in 2022 and are well positioned for the year ahead. Retailers and brands are expanding across our platform as they focus on omni-channel drive to store strategies. Our business model and assets are resilient and are set up to perform even in a challenging economic environment. Combined with our liquidity position, this gives us confidence in our ability to execute on our deleveraging plan as investment markets improve.
Finally, we continue to unlock value in our portfolio for developments which make meaningful contributions to the environmental transition of cities. With that, I will now open it up for questions. Thank you.
Let's now open the line for questions. Please limit your questions to two at a time to ensure we have time to advise all of them. Thank you. The first question is from Florent Laroche-Joubert, ODDO BHF. Please go ahead.
Hi. Good morning, Jean-Marie. Good morning, Fabrice. Thank you very much for this presentation. I would have two questions. Maybe on the guidance for 2023. Would it be possible to give us maybe more colors on what you have taken into account in your guidance for the NRIs, meaning in terms of indexation, potential reduction of vacancy, and so on? Maybe a question on disposal, if I may. Maybe in Europe, could you say us if maybe you have any discussion in progress for the remaining part of the disposal plan and in the U.S. for the flagship portfolio. How can we say that maybe you have made some progress in the last week or the last month?
Thank you very much.
Well, I'll take the question on the guidance. The guidance is consistent with the performance that we have seen in 2022, in particular in the second half of 2022, and particular, as you've seen, the recovery in sales performance leading to high level of SBR. This is what we have taken. Also a strong leasing activity in H2 2022, which was taken into consideration for the guidance. This includes, of course, on top of that, the indexation level for next year, for which we said that we had taken the majority of the indexation as part of this guidance.
On the disposal program, we are in H2, last year, the some of the uncertainty around the interest rates and the, and the, you know, to what extent they would continue to be increased has totally slowed down, not to say, you know, even, you know, further in the investment markets. We had at that point discussions in Europe, versus, you know, our EUR 4 billion plan, which give us confidence that once markets improves, we'll be able to reopen these discussions or some of them, or even engage with new discussions based on the operational performance you've seen in our results of 2022, and the kind of appetite that we expect to be even higher on the retail class assets than what it was before.
You've seen as well in the U.S., the streamlining of our portfolio, even with achievements of sizable transaction in the second half of the year. Here, the markets will improve as well. We are confident in our ability to achieve, you know, the radical reduction of our U.S. financial exposure in the course of the coming month, or we should say, semesters.
Okay. Thank you very much.
The next question is from Rob Jones with BNP Paribas. Please go ahead.
Yes. Hi, good morning team. Two questions as per your request. Fabrice, I got a little bit nervous, if I'm honest, when you made the comments towards the end about the dividend and the implication in terms of the criteria associated with its reintroduction. Maybe I could ask a question, and theoretically, if you wanted, it could have a yes or no answer. That is: do you need to see LTV less than 40% and the U.S. financial exposure radically reduced to reintroduce the dividends? Yes or no, I guess, theoretically.
The second question is, from a management accountability perspective, and maybe this is one for Jean-Marie, but if you don't sell the U.S. by the end of 2023, and certainly the investors that we speak to, and we do not believe that will be the case, do you consider that, a failure from a strategic perspective? Thank you.
I'm not sure I heard the last part of the question. Did you hear the last part of the question, the second question was?
The second question was around, if you don't sell the U.S. by the end of 2023, or, sorry, radically reduce your financial exposure to the U.S. by the end of 2023, do you, is that, in your view, a failure from a kind of strategic or management perspective? Is there another way to think about it, given that a lot of investors already their assumption is that we won't see a full U.S. disposal in 2023. Certainly from their perspective, it wouldn't be a disappointment relative to their own expectations.
Regarding the reinstatement of the dividend, again, it will be based on the operating performance that we will see in 2023. Again, on the basis of a strong operating performance that we have seen in 2022, the credit metrics that will prevail at that time, and our deleveraging progress, including the ongoing completion of our European disposals and the streamlining of our U.S. portfolio. These will be the three criteria that we'll take into consideration at that time. Again, our intention is to reinstate this dividend for fiscal year 2023 to be paid in 2024.
Thanks.
On the second questions, what I would say first is that when I compare the level of debt today, what was the level of debt when we launched the plan, the deleveraging plan, we reduced that debt by EUR 3.5 billion. We sold for EUR 3.2 billion of assets in Europe. We sold for close to EUR 1.3 or EUR 2 in the U.S. We have progressed a lot. Again, based on the operating metrics, the liquidity position, we're confident in our ability to radically reduce our financial exposure. End of 2023 or, you know, some months in 2024, won't be seen as a failure.
The point is really our commitment and also some of our ability as, that has been demonstrated over 2022 of selling assets in the U.S. at the sizable, you know, level and with somehow, low discount compared to what was expected in terms of, discount to the GMVs.
Great. Thank you very much for taking my questions.
The next question is from Pierre Clouard with Kepler Cheuvreux. Please go ahead.
Yes, thank you. Good morning. I have just one clarification first. On the guidance, I just wanted to make sure that does your guidance include the EUR 800 million that you need to sell in Europe in 2023 or not? Because on your last slide, it's not very clear. Two questions on financials. The first one on the hybrid bond. Maybe it would be good for us to give us more colors on what you are planning to do with the hybrid bond that has a call date in 2023.
The second one on the dividend, coming back on the dividend, when the accumulating negative earnings will be zero, will you have to distribute at least EUR 1.7 billion one-shot or can you spread all these payments?
Okay. I'll start with the last one on the dividend. Basically, today, we have EUR 2.4 billion of negative return earnings in the statutory accounts. Basically, and you're right, we have EUR 1.7 billion of SIIC obligation in terms of distribution, EUR 1.72 billion to be more precise. The way it works is at first you need to absorb these losses. Just as a reference, this year's result in terms of statutory accounts was EUR 89 million despite a very strong year.
You've need first to absorb the EUR 2.4 billion, and then every euro that you have to that is positive in terms of results, you will have to pay it as part of the EUR 1.7. Basically, it will not be in one go. It is as we progress and as we have positive return earnings that will be in a position to be forced, we will be forced to pay this dividend under the SIIC regime. As we've mentioned, the fact that we have negative return earnings does not preclude us from deciding a distribution out of the premium. That's the first question.
Regarding the hybrid as we indicated, this is an instrument that is important in our capital structure, and we will have time, and we'll make our decision ahead of the first reset date, which is in October 2023. What was your first question on the guidance? Sorry.
Is it including or excluding 2023 disposals, the EUR 800 million that you need to sell in Europe?
In fact, as mentioned by Jean-Marie, the disposals that are included in this guidance are both the streamlining of the U.S. portfolio. As you've seen, we've remained active in H2, and we anticipate to continue to remain active in H1. You've seen, by the way, North County disposal that was completed earlier this month. Basically, the disposal in the U.S. are likely on the regional part, to be more at the beginning of the year. When it comes to the disposals for Europe, it's more likely to be in the second half of the year. They are taken into consideration in the guidance.
What will be important, again, in terms of disposals regarding the guidance, are the disposals that were completed, in 2022 in particular, because the majority of these disposals were completed in the second half of the year, and therefore will have a full year impact, in 2023. This will be mitigated again by the operating performance, that we see, in 2023 remaining strong and supported by inflation.
Okay. That's clear. Thank you.
The next question is from Jonathan Kownator with Goldman Sachs. Please go ahead.
Good morning. Couple of questions from me. The first one, please. Your MGR uplift is 6.2% at the group level. When we look at the breakdown of the NRI like-for-like growth in the contribution of renewals, relettings and indexation is still negative at 1.1%, driven large ly by the U.S. There's a big disconnect here. Can you help us reconcile that disconnect, particularly even focusing on Europe? The number was positive 1.4%, but indexation was 3.6%. That means like a negative contribution in terms of reletting. Again, the MGR uplift versus this like-for-like impact is... I struggle to reconcile that. That's my first question, please.
Yeah. On this first question, there's always a lagging effect between the uplift and the signing of the date of a contract and its implementation, and therefore its impact on the NRI performance. This is true, not only, by the way, on the uplift, but also on the vacancy reduction. This is why I mentioned that the NRI like-for-like contribution of renewals relettings, net of departures remained negative in 2022, despite the improvement in the vacancy, despite this positive uplift, because you always have a lagging pack between the date at which a deal is signed and its effective implementation, and the date at which your retailers start paying rents.
This is what, this being said, what you can see is therefore is nevertheless, an improvement. If I, if I take, for instance, Europe, the negative contribution of renewals and relettings was -3.5% in H1, and it was -2% in H2 or in a full year. Meaning that in H2, we saw a reduction in the negative contribution. It was, I guess, -0.8%. You see that over time, it will take time for this to have its impact and to feed through into the NRI like-for-like performance. By the way, this is why we have added a specific sentence to explain this phenomenon in our MD&A.
This is why also we should bear the benefit of this in next year's like-for-like performance.
Yeah. If I may add just to that, I think it's important as well to look at on this NRI performance, the combination of, you know, the impact of relettings and renewals and the impact of turnover rents, so sales-based rents, which are part of the negotiation as well.
Can you confirm that the level of incentives that was given to achieve this performance, I mean, are they included in these numbers or are they excluded in these numbers? Is that also a source of this disconnect?
No, they are included in the numbers. Basically what you have in the P&L account is the amount after taking into consideration any incentive that would be given.
The MGR uplift or the like-for-like, or the impact of renewal and relettings, or both?
On the like-for-like performance.
Okay, they're not included in the MGR uplift, right?
Yes, you're right.
Okay. Okay, that's probably one of the sources of the difference.
But-
Okay.
Just to add on that, Jonathan, if you're interested, you see the fit out contribution that we give in the context of this leasing activity in the investment section, and you see that it's limited. Out of memory, it's around EUR 27 million in total for 2022. Basically you have the information when it comes to these fit out contribution that are given to retailers in the context of the signing of the deals.
Okay, perfect. Very helpful. Thank you. Second question, just going back to U.S. valuations. I mean, obviously you've adjusted them already 27%. Any idea as to how long this process is going to last? Ultimately, when you look at some of the funding conditions that are available in the U.S., they're quite depressed. I mean, Simon is funding itself at 5.3% or about, if I remember correctly from their results earlier this week. I mean, what kind of investors could be interested in your assets, given, like, the funding conditions are pretty significantly high in the U.S. at this stage? You know, what would be the sensitivity that you would look at still in terms of potential declines in valuations?
I think when it comes to disposal that have been completed in 2022 and at a time when there was already this increase in rates, you see and particularly in the second half of the year, you see that the discount at which we sold these assets was -0.5% compared to the last book value, which shows that effectively at the end of the day, A, you have investors that are keen to invest. Again, North County is the last example, but you had also Santa Anita. That was a relevant one of size. B, you see that in terms of overall pricing achieved, they were quite close to the last appraised value. Now we'll see how this evolves over time.
If I may, if you take North County and Santa Anita, I think one thing would be helpful, what was the average yield at which those assets were sold? Because the regionals usually trade at very high yields, which helps from a delta versus funding costs, right? I mean, which is not the case for flagship. What was the average yield for North County and Santa Anita? If you can help with that.
Sure, sure. On Santa Anita, it was sub 6.
The next question is from Bart Gysens with Morgan Stanley. Please go ahead.
Hi, good morning. I have a question, or my first question is on your OCRs and your occupancy cost ratios. On slide 30, you laid that out quite clearly and you've gone through it. And, and you show that in continental Europe, those have dropped versus 2019. I feel like I'm missing something, and I just want you to help me to understand. In continental Europe, retail sales versus 2019, they are flat in nominal terms, right? You say that on the front page. The service charge is flattish, as you show on slide 23. The average rent per square meter, MGR and SVR on page 56 of the results release, you show that that's a couple of percent higher than in 2019. How can this OCR be down?
What am I missing? Thank you.
I think here we are coming back to this question of the lagging effect of what has been signed and effectively the rent roll that you use as a comparison. I think that's the timing effect that explains this difference.
Okay. As a follow-up on the OCR, is OCR still the main measure for you? Because a lot of operating costs for your tenants are probably up a lot, right? The cost of their inventory has gone up 'cause they source their goods in dollars and they sell in euro. They have higher salaries. Have you started measuring store profitability in other ways than OCRs?
Well, that's what we were trying to, or what I was trying, you know, to express with this drive to store strategies. You know, what is the trend that we see and that we have been sharing with you now for several, you know, presentations, and in particular during the Investor Day, where we see, you know, this drive to store strategy where the focus. It's very interesting. There was an article this morning on the French press about, you know, some retailers that were about to become or that went bankrupt. Vast majority of them didn't do the move to the omnichannel world. I think that you need to be omnichannel to be performing.
That's what the best retailers in the world, like, again, Inditex, have been doing, and everyone is doing that. Again, JD Sports announced, you know, that they will even, you know, push on the data and as well on the click and collect services in their stores. They lower the number of stores. They expand the stores that they have in the best location, that are the best, you know, connected as well to the transportation networks, and they push their consumers to go to the store to pick up their online purchase or to return their online purchases. You've seen the effect in terms of consolidation of the logistic cost for them. Having less stores is, you know, having less logistic cost. Having less delivery, last mile delivery is, you know, reducing their cost.
Having, you know, the benefit of these, you know, people coming to the stores, adding on the sales productivity of the store, is making the store more profitable. That's really the trend that you see everywhere. Again, JD Sports last week announced a plan that is exactly what we are sharing with you. That's really where the point is for them, is that that's the way they're, they will, you know, somehow protect or even, you know, improve their profitability. We have to take this into account. We need to, you know. That's why I was saying we need to be aware of that, and we need to try to measure, and which we are trying to do.
That gives us, you know, more leverage in the negotiation with the retailers, which you see as well in the MGR uplift that we have been able to deliver this year, with even an improvement in H2 based on lower vacancies or commercial tension going back. Somehow, you know, this clear objective for the retailers to consolidate on the best performing stores, meaning that even if the negotiations are tough with them, they need our stores. At the end, they sign.
Yeah.
We have seen that. Again, 114 leases signed with our top 50 retailers in Europe.
No, thank you. That's clear. My other question is on streamlining the U.S. You talk about that you're going through that, but you talk about disposal streamlining, but the reality is now you've given keys back, I think, on six assets in the last year and a bit or so. Are you largely done with that? Do you expect more of those transactions to happen where you effectively walk away from the asset?
I think it's.
You know, can provide any color on that.
Yeah, in fact, it's partly true. In fact, the foreclosures took place two years ago. Basically, out of the $0.7 billion of disposals or debt reduction that were completed in 2021, effectively, you had predominantly some foreclosures. In 2022, you had no impact of foreclosures. Going forward, effectively, you may have some more foreclosures to come. The first one, by the way, to be mentioned is Valencia, for which there was a maturity due on January 1, 2023, for which we have decided not to reimburse the debt in conjunction, by the way, with our JV partners. This is effectively an asset that is either likely to be foreclosed or to be sold.
As a consequence, we will have a reduction of the debt of the group of $97.5 million, which is more or less equivalent to the value at which we carry this asset in our book. There might be a few situations in which effectively, we may surrender the keys, but this was not the main driver in terms of disposals in the U.S. in 2022.
In 2022.
I think-
Sorry. In 2022, we sold four assets for $1.3 billion at 100% for $1.3 billion. We just sold another one in January. If you say we uncage this, we secured this, you know, in December last year, this is five assets that we somehow disposed in 2022.
Okay, thank you.
The next question is from Paul May with Barclays. Please go ahead.
Hi, team. Thanks for taking my questions. got a number, but I'll limit it to two. just on valuations, 'cause we're fielding quite a lot of questions from investors on this. How comfortable are you with the NRI CAGR assumptions? I mean, they look relatively high, certainly in some of the European countries and in the U.S. compared to what others are saying. also linked to that, we've also seen a very, very small change over the last 12 months in discount rates, despite the material, I think we're sort of tens of basis points change in discount rates versus hundreds of basis points change in the cost of capital. just wondering how you reconcile those changes and the CAGR, and I'll ask my second question after that. Thanks.
I think when it comes to the discount rate and exit cap rate evolution, as mentioned, you need to look at it not only over one year, but over a longer period of time. In particular, when you look at it over the longer period of time, you see that the level, the yield expansion or the cap rate expansion, and the discount rate evolution has been much more important than the one in the last year. Because the valuations had already taken into consideration an increase in rates, in particular, at the time when the retail activity was seen as more risky during the COVID period.
This is what we explain in our slide, that effectively we did not benefit from the yield reduction between 2018 and 2021, which benefited other asset classes. This is why, in fact, the net issue, the yield expansion is less pronounced, but it started earlier. When you look at the different regions, and we have given the figures in the presentation, you see that they are effectively, you know, at 50- 60 basis points when you look at Europe. It's over 200 basis points when it comes to the U.K., and 90 basis points discount rate increase in the U.S., and 40 basis points increase in exit cap rate.
Just to follow up on that. The, I appreciate the point, nobody expected rates like cost of debt to move 300 or 400 basis points higher over the last 12 months. That has been a factor for the last 12 months. The movement prior to that in cap rates has been a factor because of a declining structural impact on retail. Just wondering why in the last 12 months there's been a very little move despite that material cost changing the cost of capital that has only happened over and couldn't be foreseen. I mean, I don't think anybody foresaw the rates moving to the extent that they have. Just wonder why there hasn't been a greater impact. It seems illogical to me, but happy to hear your thoughts on that.
I think when it comes to valuations, it's also a combination of factors. As I said, you have to look at it from a longer time perspective when it comes to the yield extension. The other element also taken into consideration is what are the cash flow growth that are taken by the appraisers. For instance, when I look at inflation, the assumptions on inflation are quite limited compared to what we see in terms of inflation. That's a combination of, you know, the level of cash flow that they take and the level of discount rate and exit cap rate that they assume.
Okay. I suppose just also final way, are you comfortable you could sell your assets at current valuations, or do you think that there is further valuation decline to come?
When you look at our track record and even what we are realizing in our H2 or in the U.S., there was, you know, as very limited discount to the GMV. When you look at in a market that is really unfavorable, when you look at what we've been able to achieve in Europe, in particular in H1, it was, you know, aligned with the GMVs.
Thank you very much. Just following on from that second question, apologies for the follow-ups. On leverage, I think you highlight obviously commitment to the deleveraging strategy, and I think that's gone very well from an absolute debt perspective. You know, it's come down quite materially over the last sort of two, three years. Just on a relative basis, obviously leverage has increased as we've had those values declining over the last few years. Do you see sort of a need to increase your deleveraging plan, or is that something that you feel is comfortable given the, you know, the movement in valuations to bring LTV down to a comfortable level? Thank you.
Well, well, thanks for effectively, mentioning that, we have made significant progress over the last years and in particular, you know, not only in terms of debt evolution, the debt as mentioned by Jean-Marie has come down by EUR 3.5 billion between 2020 and 2022, so over two years. The loan-to-value has come down by 3.5% over this period, despite a 7% decrease in values at that time. We have made a lot of progress in terms of net debt to EBITDA. Thanks to the recovery of the activity, we are back to pre-COVID levels.
Still, we continue to be fully committed to deleveraging the company, and this remains a priority for the group.
I was thinking more relative to 2019. That was, like, before the strategy was put in place in terms of LTV, transition. No, good to know that it's still a key priority. Thank you.
The last question is from Jaap Kuin with Kempen. Please go ahead.
Hi, good morning. Thanks for taking my question as well. One more question on MGR uplift. The 9.6 excludes, I think, all leases less than 12 months. Can you maybe indicate kind of the volume of leases which is actually below 12 months? If you would just give a grand average number, what would that be? My second question is on your changing market of reference, which might or might not lead to you being excluded from the CAC index. Do you have anything that you can say about that? Thanks.
Regarding the weight of short-term and long-term deals, this has improved as we have mentioned. It is 68% today compared to 62% last year. We've continued to increase the proportion of long-term deals. At the same time, you also saw when it comes to the short-term deals, a lower negative uplift affecting or being signed in 2022. When it comes to the changes in market of reference, it's a simplification measure that we have decided to implement again as part of again the simplification of the group structure.
This is something that effectively has limited and even no impact on shareholders in view of, again, the liquidity on the Amsterdam stock market, and also the fact that it remains totally the same. It's totally neutral for the for the investors.
Sure. Will you be excluded from the Amsterdam index?
This is effectively a risk. When you look at the weight that we have on the CAC index, it's 0.83, I guess. It's quite limited. In terms of volume of trading, it's also very limited. It's a few, a couple of days of trading. This is effectively the only consequence that we might see on this.
Yeah. Coming back to my first question, because I think your definition of short term, are you referring then leases between 12 and 36 months, or are you referring then to less than 12 months? Because you're not reporting on the leases less than 12 months, if I'm correct.
Yes.
Yeah, the comment of Fabrice was on the 12- 36 months.
12 to 36.
What is their 12 months, you know, below 12 months for us is what we call specialty leasing. It's about, you know, how you keep, you know, some of the lights, how do you animate, how do you take advantage as well of, you know, the time it is required between someone leaving and then a new tenants coming. In particular, you have seen the effort that we made on the rotation rate, new concepts, new lightings. This is very important. Meanwhile, if we can optimize the cash flow of the asset, we obviously do it. That's part of the specialty leasing. It's really, you know, these short-term deals have no impact on these MGR uplift because somehow they are here to do. This is another objective. It's not part of our, you know, global leasing activity. It's more part of what we call specialty leasing.
All right. Just anything less than 12 months is in specialty leasing. Could you describe the performance of this category in 2022 versus 2021?
On the specialty leasing, I would say that obviously, you know, lower as we have, you know, improved the occupancy. You have a lower vacancy, which means that we have signed more long-term deals, you have less in that respect, you know, vacant units that we can use. For the specialty leasing, you have as well the carts, you have as well the kiosks. It's part of a global offer.
All right. Thank you very much.
I think it was the last question, so. Yeah. Thank you, everyone. I'll talk to you soon. Thank you.