Residential property market underpins higher Mirvac guidance
DEVELOPER Mirvac is riding the surging residential property market and has lifted its earnings guidance as home and apartment sales and settlements lift.
In a sign of its strong performance, the company also returned half the Jobkeeper payments it had received, giving back $10.5m it received from July to September last year, but keeping amounts relating to when the pandemic struck.
Mirvac CEO Susan Lloyd-hurwitz said that during the quarter the business had performed well and had strong momentum leading into the final quarter, with rent collection rates improving and residential settlements and sales ahead of expectations.
“The residential business, with 1791 settlements in the financial year to date, positions Mirvac to comfortably exceed guidance of over 2200 lot settlements in fiscal 2021,” she said.
The group has upgraded its 2021 fiscal year forecast earnings per security guidance to at least 13.7c, from 13.1c-13.5c.
The upgraded guidance accounts for the return of Jobkeeper payments and the expected delay of the sale of a half stake in the Locomotive Workshops in South Eveleigh, inner Sydney, that will now occur early next financial year, with the selldown of this asset in advanced negotiation to a Suncorp mandate.
The distribution per security guidance for the 2021 fiscal year has also been upgraded to 9.9c, from 9.6c-9.8c, reflecting the improved outlook for the business.
Guidance is subject to there being no adverse change in market conditions and no further or extended COVID-19 impacts.
The company is backing a wave of new city projects.
“We remain committed to investing in dynamic cities and urban areas with scale and deep employment markets,” the company said.