Goodman result 'sound' says manager
Goodman Property unitholders heard from the trust managers about the good job they have been doing.
The managers of listed Goodman Property Trust told unitholders at the annual meeting in Auckland today that the trust had produced sound results in a difficult market.
Chairman Keith Smith highlighted “strategic acquisitions” and completed development projects over the past 12 months. Net property income rose 2.4% to $108.7 million. This contributed to distributable earnings before interest and tax increasing by 1.7% to $101.1 million.
For the year ending March 31, 2011 the trust paid a cash distribution of 7.74c per unit, equivalent to a 7.9% tax paid yield at the current trading price of 98c a share.
(In May, John Dakin, chief executive of the manager of the trust, announced a board decision to reduce dividends from 90% of available earnings down to 80% to help fund new developments).
Mr Smith said Goodman Property Trust was the only listed property trust to have obtained a credit rating, and its triple B rating had supported its successful bond programme which was providing more than a third of its debt funding, reducing reliance on bank funding.
“While immediate growth prospects are limited, rising business confidence and a positive economic forecast make the board more optimistic about the longer term.”
Mr Dakin told the meeting the trust had maintained its portfolio occupancy rate for the past eight years in a narrow band averaging 97%.
Mr Dakin said that Goodman Property Trust remained committed to Christchurch in the long term, and had more than 10 percent of its portfolio in the southern city.
The location and design of our properties (some at Show Place developed by local investor Ernie Henshaw to 120% of the Building Code) meant they sustained only superficial earthquake damage.”
Mr Dakin said recent sales of commercial properties showed of a general lift in investment sentiment since March, and the valuation outlook for prime industrial properties is increasingly positive.
Chris Hutching
Tue, 02 Aug 2011
Tue, 02 Aug 2011
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Goodman result 'sound' says manager
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