UPDATE 1-Stockland says interested in FKP retirement assets

(Adds details, retail sector comment)

SYDNEY Feb 9 (Reuters) - Australian property trust Stockland Group is interested in buying all or part of the retirement assets of FKP Property Group, although a deal has to be earnings accretive, Stockland managing director Matthew Quinn said on Thursday.

Stockland, Australia's second-biggest property fund, is moving its focus to the retirement, retail and residential sectors where it sees higher growth, and away from office and industrial assets.

Stockland has a 15 percent stake in FKP, which last month said it had held various discussions with third parties on restructuring its A$1 billion retirement portfolio, but no deal had been reached. Stockland has the first right of refusal over the assets.

"Quite simply for us, we are interested. But if the price is such that it's not accretive to our cash returns then we wouldn't be interested in that," Stockland Managing Director Matthew Quinn told Reuters.

The Australian Financial Review reported in January that FKP had held talks with possible suitors from China, the United States and New Zealand for the business.

The retail, residential and retirement sectors account for about 75 percent of Stockland's overall operating profit, with the company operating 41 mainly regional shopping malls.

Retailers have struggled as shoppers tightened their purses over worries about the global economy, but Quinn said the group had reshuffled its tenant mix to make its malls less exposed to discretionary spending and online shopping.

Stockland's shopping centres logged net operating income of A$152 million for the six months to December, up from A$143 million for the same period last year.

"We expect to achieve comparable rental growth in retail for the year to between 3.5 and 4 percent," Quinn said, adding that this rate of growth should be sustainable in the next fiscal year as well.

This compares with about a 5 percent rent increase for regional shopping centres in 2011 in two Australian states, New South Wales and Queensland, according to property research firm Leasing Information Services.

Overall, Stockland posted a 28 percent fall in statutory profit for the six months to December but said the decline was due to timing issues with its residential business and kept its full-year earnings guidance unchanged.

Quinn said residential sales have been picking up for the last 6 months as Stockland's smaller and affordable houses attracted first-time home buyers.

Shares of Stockland fell 1.7 percent in early afternoon trade, underperforming the broader property index which dropped 1.2 percent. (Reporting by Eriko Amaha; Editing by Richard Pullin)