24 May 2012

Property investor expects portfolio value to climb

9:36 pm on 24 May 2012

DNZ Property Fund expects the value of its portfolio to continue to climb, particularly in Auckland.

The commercial property landlord on Wednesday announced a profit of $20.8 million in the year to March, a turnaround from last year's $35.1 million loss when it paid a deferred tax bill and bought back its management contract.

Net rental income rose to $52.9 million while occupancy reached 98.7%.

Chief executive Paul Duffy says the portfolio value rose $800,000, or about 0.1%, during the year.

He says there was a slight increase in the capital value of the portfolio and in the next 12 months there will be yield compression: that is the capital values are expected to go up in the office and industrial sectors in Auckland.

But Mr Duffy says that's governed on tenants' convenants and location which are the fundamentals of good, sound property investment.

The company sold two office blocks in Wellington and one in Auckland.

It also picked up three Foodstuffs supermarkets and a Bunnings hardware store.

Mr Duffy says the company's retail holdings cover all parts of the industry.

He says DNZ has a 50% interest in Johnsonville shopping centre, community shopping centres such as Mt Wellington where there are 30 different specialty shops with the major supermarkets and bulk retail such as Bunnings, Mitre 10 and Placemakers.

He says the company plans to maintain a diverse strategy, investing across the office, retail and industrial sectors.