chartist opionion please, page-12

re: lend lease in great shape "Lend Lease 'in great shape' - enough work for a decade
Email Print Normal font Large font By Jeff Turnbull
November 25, 2005

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AdvertisementProperty developer Lend Lease believes it is well positioned for any further slowdown in the housing cycle with 10 years' work in the pipeline.

Rod Fehring, head of Lend Lease Communities, said dwelling commencements in 2006 were forecast to fall a further 15 per cent from 2005.

"Sydney's fall during 2006 will be approximately double this level," Mr Fehring told a market briefing yesterday.

He said increasing volatility in consumer sentiment this year meant house buyers were taking longer to purchase a home after their first inquiry. "However, underlying market fundamentals remain positive," he said.

Retail and communities chief executive Ross Taylor said Lend Lease held secure positions in growth corridors in Australian cities with project time frames of 10 years or more.

He said that with the 10-year backlog in the Asia-Pacific business, the group was well positioned for any housing downturn in the region.

The company is also the market leader in government military housing in the United States.

"We're well positioned for further military privatisations," Mr Taylor said.

He said there was still $US6.8 billion ($9.2 billion) left in military family housing, $US20 billion in barracks and $US1.2 billion in lodging.

"Lend Lease is in great shape strategically, financially and organisationally," Mr Taylor said.

He said there was an excellent platform in the US to develop communities in the style of its Australian communities business, Delfin Lend Lease.

"We have a clear vision for the future and a focused business model," he said.

Bob Johnston, head of project management construction, said opportunities in Britain included the London commercial market, retail and urban regeneration and the 2012 London Olympic Games.

In the US, Lend Lease is constructing or renovating nine major arenas in the New York metropolitan region, including a $US300 million to $US500 million project at Madison Square Gardens where one million square feet of retail, residential and office space is being constructed.

Taran Gupta, fund manager of the group's Australian prime property funds, said there had been a 212 per cent growth in funds under management over the past five years.

Fees have grown to $22.6 million in 2004-05 from $8.2 million in 1998-99."