KEY POINTS:
Listed industrial property investor Property For Industry (PFI) reported a December year net profit of $44.45 million but $26.463m came from property revaluations.
Excluding the unrealised revaluations, net profit was up 6 per cent at $14.9m.
Net earnings per share, based on distributable profit and excluding revaluations, rose 5.0 per cent to 7.11 cents per share.
PFI declared a final dividend of 2.425 cents per share with 0.056 cents of imputation credits, bringing the total gross dividend for 2007 to 8.823 cents per share. The net dividend of 7.10 cents per share is a 5 per cent increase on the previous year net dividend.
Rentals for the year rose 5.9 per cent to $30.9m, thanks to rent reviews, acquisitions and completed development projects.
General manager Ross Blackmore said the company's portfolio had continued to outperform the wider industrial market in 2007.
The unrealised 6.45 per cent revaluation gain (net of additions and disposals) took the total gross value of the company's 59 properties to $436.7m.
The portfolio is returning a yield of 7.59 per cent on contract rents, or 7.79 per cent on market rents, and remains 2.5 per cent under-rented.
Mr Blackmore said the revaluation gain was driven by capitalisation rate compression ($13m), rental growth of 2 per cent ($8m), and development margins ($5m).
PFI's return to shareholders for the year (income yield plus share price appreciation) was 6.6 per cent, exceeded the NZSX-50 Index and the NZX Listed Property Index.
PFI's portfolio occupancy rate remains at 99.7 per cent.
Mr Blackmore said 40 properties were scheduled for rent reviews in 2008 and "given that there is still under-renting in the portfolio and half of the reviews are on a CPI or stepped rental mechanism, there is every reason to be confident of another strong contribution from this part of our activity."
PFI shares have fallen to $1.25 yesterday from $1.51 a year ago.
- NZPA
