This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
PROPERTY funds manager Charter Hall Group (ASX: CHC) has posted a statutory loss of $190 million for 1H24, after devaluations of $3.5 billion over the period.
This is a stark contrast from results this time 12 months ago, when the group posted a profit after tax or $226.5 million.
Operating earnings were posted at $195.1 million for the half, down 18.7% from $239.9 million for the same period a year ago.
With OEPS at 41.2 cps and distributions at 22.1 cps, with distributions per security showing consistent growth of 6.0% from FY19 to FY24.
Charter Hall’s funds under management were down $4.8 billion to $82.6 billion, consisting of $67.7 billion of Property FUM and $14.9 billion of Paradice Investment Management (PIM) FUM.
Property FUM. Was down by $4.2 billion and was driven by net divestments of -$0.4 billion and devaluations of $3.5 billion, capex spend of $0.6 billion.
At the close of the period, Charter Hall’s property investment portfolio value was at $2.8 billion, representing around 4% of the group’s total property platform of approximately $68 billion.
No single asset represented more than 4% of portfolio investments, with government covenants making up the largest tenant exposure and 24% of portfolio income.
While 20% of net income is derived from leases with CPI-linked rent reviews.
“We’ve continued the on-going curation of the portfolio’s we manage, developing new assets and modernising prime located assets that meet the needs of today’s tenants while selectively divesting older, non-core assets which enhances returns,” said David Harrison, managing director at group CEO at Charter Hall.
Portfolio occupancy was at 97.0%, with a WALE of 7.3-years and WARR at 3.5% and the cap rate up 65 bps to 5.24% over the last 12 months.
Charter Hall’s development completions totalled $3.0 billion in the last 12 months, with the pipeline at $12.8 billion with $5.0 billion in committed development project value.
“The commencement of construction for the $1.8 billion Chifley South Tower to create Australia’s premier $3.8 billion precinct, follows $3bn of development completions across office and industrial over the past 12 months, all demonstrating the active asset management of our Platform.”
Over the period, Charter Hall completed $9.2 billion in new and refinanced debt facilities across its platform.
Charter Hall’s balance sheet held $401 million of cash as at 31 December 2023 and low balance sheet gearing of 2.4%.
The group reaffirmed a FY24 earnings guidance for post-tax operating earnings per security of approximately 75 cps and an FY24 distribution per security guidance of 6% growth over FY23.
