ONE of Australia's largest shopping centre owners says a simple, transparent corporate structure has placed it in good stead to benefit from a period of extreme volatility in the listed property sector.
As listed property trusts with complex funds management arms slash or stop distributions, Colonial First State's Retail Property Trust, which owns 25 centres including Chadstone, has announced that its investors will receive distributions of 12¢ a unit, up 13.4% on the previous year.
Full-year earnings grew 11% to $261.1 million, thanks mainly to growth in shopping centre rents. Net profit dropped 31%, mainly because its properties had not increased as rapidly in value as the previous "boom" year. They increased $416.2 million compared with $852.4 million the previous year.
Company fund manager Michael Gorman declined to comment on whether the company would buy any of rival Centro's shopping centres, but said low gearing of 27.3% and a strong income stream put the company in an excellent position to profit from expected opportunities.
Meanwhile, Colonial's Commonwealth Property Office Fund, Australia's biggest listed office trust, said net income fell $375 million, or 31.1% — mainly due to property revaluations. CPA closed down 9¢, or 6.43%, at $1.31; CFX closed up 1.96%, or 4¢ at $2.08.
www.colonialfirststate.com.au
CNP Price at posting:
0.0¢ Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held
