12 Aug 2021

Precinct Properties reports $179.9m full year net profit

2:41 pm on 12 August 2021

Precinct Properties has reported a more than five-fold increase in net profit, reflecting a bounce back from last year's lockdowns and revaluation gains.

AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND - DECEMBER, 2017: Auckland downtown aerial view.

Photo: 123RF

The large office and retail investor's full year net profit for the year to 30 June was $179.9 million, compared with $35.1m the year earlier.

The result included a strong 9.3 percent revaluation gain on the value of its portfolio of $282.9m, which compared with last year's devaluation of $66.3m.

"The high quality and resilient nature of our portfolio is driving Precinct's operating and financial performance," chief executive Scott Pritchard said.

Revenue rose 32 percent to $199.8m.

He said the company successfully internalised its management earlier this year and raised $250m of equity through a share placement and retail offer last month.

"[It] has put our business in a strong position to deliver on the next phase of its strategy," Pritchard said.

"Despite the challenging backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic, we have been able to capitalise on strong office leasing demand and secure around $800m of new developments with 90 percent pre-leasing achieved.

"This strong demand combined with our pipeline of opportunities and the quality of our portfolio position our business well to continue to deliver growth in shareholder value."

Pritchard said the company's portfolio gave it confidence in its earnings outlook with potential for further dividend growth.

The board expected Precinct's dividend for the 2022 financial year to be 6.70 cents per share (cps), which represented a 3.1 percent year-on-year increase on 6.50 cps in the year just ended.