Mall owner seeks ‘considered’ acquisitions
Kiwi Property Group has almost completed rebalancing its portfolio to Auckland and says it is ready for more developments and ‘‘considered’’ acquisitions.
The real estate owner, which is the largest property company on the New Zealand stock exchange, reported an after-tax profit of $48.3 million for the six months to September 30, up almost 1 per cent on the previous half-year’s $47.9m.
Chairman Mark Ford said the difference was mainly due to loss of income after the sales of the Majestic Centre in Wellington and North City Shopping Centre in Porirua.
‘‘Over the past several years, we have been actively rebalancing the composition of our property portfolio in favour of greater exposure to Auckland, the nation’s economic powerhouse,’’ Ford said.
‘‘The sale of non-core assets to achieve this strategy has predictably resulted in lower rental revenue in the short term, but has placed us in an even stronger position to pursue growth opportunities for long-term benefit.’’
Kiwi Property chief executive Clive MacKenzie said: ‘‘The portfolio is strongly positioned, with our rebalancing programme almost complete.’’
The company was in a position to focus on growth while keeping debt levels conservative, he said.
The value of its portfolio was
$3 billion, 69 per cent of which was in Auckland.
For the rest of the 2019 financial year, Kiwi Property would concentrate on advancing developments at Sylvia Park in Auckland and Northlands in Christchurch, as well as on zoning issues at Drury, south of Auckland, where it plans to develop a town centre.
The dividend for the half-year is
3.475 cents a share and it will be paid on December 19.