The National Property Trust said its unit holders have approved a corporatisation proposal which will now proceed.The trust's manager, The National Property Trust Ltd, said it will proceed with the plan after seven resolutions were approved at a unit hold
The National Property Trust said its unit holders have approved a corporatisation proposal which will now proceed.
The trust's manager, The National Property Trust Ltd, said it will proceed with the plan after seven resolutions were approved at a unit holder meeting in Auckland.
The new board will meet early in the new Year to determine the strategic direction of the company. On April 4 the trust will delist and a new company NPT Ltd will list on the NZSX.
Earlier the meeting was told that property values have stabilised, decreasing only 0.6 percent over the last six months, but the office rental market will be under pressure over the coming two years. The trust's portfolio is currently under rented by an estimated 4.3 percent.
The trust reported a distributable profit of $4.45 million in the six months ended September 30, down 8.2 percent on the $4.85 million reported last year.
The profit was lower because of a one-off cost to settle a rental guarantee on a property sold last year, and higher than expected costs from the earthquake in Christchurch on September 4.
After allowing for the $14.63m deferred tax expense, an unrealised loss on interest rate swaps of $1.77m and in property investments of $980,000, the trust's net loss after tax and revaluations was $13.03m compared to the $9.08m loss recorded for the same period last year.
Many company have reported deferred tax expenses resulting from the accounting treatment of a government decision to remove tax deductions on buildings. The charge is an unintended consequence of the International Accounting Standard 12 and an exposure draft has recently been released by the International Accounting Standard Board to address this issue. If approved, this adjustment will be reversed.
Unitholders will receive an interim dividend distribution for the quarter ended September 30, 2010, of 1.0005 cents per unit. The dividend will be paid on January 7 and no imputation credits will be attached.
This payment will bring the 2011 financial year to date distribution to 2.0595 cents per unit, which is in line with the targeted distribution for the full financial year of 4.0 cents per unit.
The trust also said today that it has secured Natcoll Design Technology (Natcoll) as a new tenant at its Torrens House, Christchurch property.
