International retail landlord Westfield is to retain its listing in Australia as any move would only be of "marginal" benefit to shareholders, chairman Frank Lowy told the annual meeting in Sydney on Thursday. 
Mr Lowy, 85, was also resoundingly re-elected as chairman for a further three years and said he would fulfil his duties, "subject to a higher being" to the best of his abilities. He was returned with a vote of 98.56 per cent.
He also said the group was not the Westfield named in the Panama Papers.
"Over the past year, the board and management have participated in an exhaustive review of the possibility of moving the listing overseas," Mr Lowy said.
"We did not start with any preconceived ideas and we did not presume that we would definitely move the listing out of Australia where the market has served us well over a long period of time.
"Therefore, having regard to a range of factors - including the current trading performance ... and taking into account the complexities and disruption associated with moving the listing - the board has formed the view that the benefits of such a move are marginal at the present time, and that Westfield Corporation should maintain its primary listing in Australia."
Mr Lowy said because the assets were located predominantly in the US, considerable time was spent analysing the possibility of listing on the New York Stock Exchange.
After the meeting, when asked if that would change any time soon, Mr Lowy said "a decision is a decision" and that the board decided to stay listed in Australia.
During the sometimes feisty meeting Mr Lowy said the move to split the company into two, Scentre Group to run Australia and New Zealand and Westfield Corp to focus on the international business, had unlocked value for shareholders.
This was evidenced in the $10.5 billion development portfolio to expand into Europe. He said any move into Asia was some way off.
"Westfield Group securityholders who participated in the restructure have seen the value of their holdings increase in excess of 55 per cent since the date of announcement of the restructure - outperforming the ASX 200 by nearly 50 per cent," Mr Lowy said.
"It has created greater choice and flexibility for investors in terms of where they invest and the currency they invest in."
On the business, Westfield co-chief executive Steven Lowy said for the quarter, the group had recorded annual specialty retail sales growth of 4.4 per cent for the 12 months ending   March. The quarter was flat due to a "tapering" of growth in the US.
"The flagship portfolio, which represents 82 per cent of our assets, continues to outperform. This is a solid operating result given that in the United States the macroeconomic conditions have tapered," Steven Lowy said.