Listed commercial property investor AMP NZ Office Trust (ANZO) has announced a record distribution to investors. ANZO's gross unit-holder distributions for the full June year will be 8.385c per unit, 8 percent higher than 2007.

The company said the distribution followed  a continued strong portfolio performance . The 8 percent increase consists of the 4 percent year-on-year growth signalled in December 2007, plus a special distribution, also 4 percent.

Shares in ANZO were down a cent to $1.19 in late afternoon trading, off a year low of $1.05 set last month. Chief executive Robert Lang said ANZO's occupancy rates remained consistently high, while rent reviews and previous acquisitions were contributing strongly.

Rent reviews, new leases and lease renewals for the year to date had delivered an annualised increase in contract rentals of $5m, although the full benefits would be seen next year. The outlook for next year's distribution was a minimum year-on-year growth rate of 4 percent, but it might be exceeded.

 ANZO's results for the nine months to March showed a net operating profit of $40.11m after tax, 32.7 percent higher than the previous comparable period. Rental revenues were up 13.9 percent to $89.53M, and earnings per unit (based on operating profit before tax), were 5.8 percent higher at 6.43c per unit.

ANZO recently extended its bank debt facility by $160 million to a total of $485 million to cover all currently-committed portfolio and capital expenditure.