24 May 2021

Kiwi Property reports $100m gain in investment portfolio

12:22 pm on 24 May 2021

Kiwi Property has reported a big profit lift with strong gains in the value of its $3.3 billion investment portfolio.

An artist's impression of the new town centre Kiwi Property is planning to build in Drury, south of Auckland.

Photo: Supplied

The big retail and diversified property investor's net profit for the year ended 31 March was $196.5 million, up by $383.2m on the year earlier, with a $99.8m or 3.1 percent gain on the portfolio.

That gain offset a 7.1 percent drop in net rental income of $173.6m, with the Covid-19 lockdowns adversely affecting the operating profit.

The underlying pre-tax profit fell 10.3 percent to $116.3m.

"Despite this, we ended the year in a robust position, with leasing projections and rental abatements tracking better than forecast," chief executive Clive Mackenzie said.

"We start FY22 with exciting prospects ahead of us, including Drury, the new office tower at Sylvia Park and potentially (built to rent accommodation)."

He said Sylvia Park's level one expansion had performed well, with construction of a second tower to begin in October.

In addition, he said the company's plans for the development of a 51-hectare master-planned community at Drury made substantial progress over the past year, with a fast-track application potentially enabling earthworks to take place three years ahead of schedule.

Kiwi Property will pay a final cash dividend of 2.95 cents per share for the six-month period ended 31 March.

It will provide guidance when the sale of The Plaza and Northlands properties was complete.