Kiwi Property half-year profit drops 24% to $36m

New Zealand's biggest listed landlord, Kiwi Property Group, has delivered a $36.7m net profit after tax for the latest half-year, down 24 per cent on the previous $48m due to a combination of factors including falling interest rates.

Net rental income fell due to the sale of North City in Porirua, funds from operations fell reflecting the impact of one-off disposals and due to a fair value loss of $12.9m in the value of Kiwi's interest rate swaps after successive interest rates cuts.

Yet in the half-year to September 30, 2019, Kiwi pushed up revenue from $116m in the 2018 half-year to $117m. Total expenses rose from $59m to $70m driving down pre-tax profit from $59m to $47m. And Kiwi said its total rental growth was 4.6 per cent.

Kiwi chief executive Clive Mackenzie was this month named by the Herald in a power list. He appeared in first place on the NZX listed entities, with a portfolio of around $3.3b. Kiwi's market capitalisation is around $2.3b.

Kiwi says it is the largest listed property company on the NZX and a member of the S&P/NZX 20 Index. It declared investment properties of $3.33b in the latest result.

Kiwi Property chief executive Clive Mackenzie. Photo / Dean Purcell

Its assets include Shortland St's Vero Centre, Sylvia Park at Mt Wellington and LynnMall.

A half-year dividend of 3.52 cents a share will be paid.

Kiwi said it was in "advanced planning" for a second tower at Sylvia Park where 15,000sq m of space could be built in offices plus a 140-room hotel. It had "strong interest" from office tenants and international hotel operators and has a target to begin building there later next year.

The Grove restaurant area at Sylvia Park. Photo / Doug Sherring

Kiwi plans a new food and beverage precinct at Hamilton's The Base and a plan change and an accelerated construction timeline for its yet-to-begin greenfields development at Drury.

There, it could bring a Costco and Ikea, although no mention of those names has been made by the business.

Kiwi has been running for more than 25 years and it owns a mixed portfolio of offices and shops.

Kiwi's Brickworks at LynnMall. Photo / Nick Reed

The business claims it is well-positioned for growth with a high-quality asset portfolio. It has 12 assets or properties with a weighted average lease expiry of 5.2 years.

Mark Ford, Kiwi chairman, said the company's goal was to create modern mixed-use communities, where people wanted to shop, work, play and stay.

"Our refreshed strategy will help position the company for future growth by aligning the organisation to key opportunities in the market. We see significant scope to create additional value for our shareholders by integrating a range of complementary uses at our significant landholdings," Ford said.

The company also confirmed its intention to hold its full-year cash dividend at 7.05 cps.