That includes the syndicate that owns 2 Graham St in Auckland's CBD: BDO House, the headquarters of the listed NZME whose publications include the New Zealand Herald.
A shopping centre in New Plymouth with a Countdown, shops and office building in Hamilton, offices at 752 Great South Rd in Penrose, Massey Countdown as well as Countdowns at Tokoroa and a Bunnings at Whangarei are also managed by Centuria.
Mark Francis of Centuria and Asset Plus. Photo / Supplied
Centuria earned management fees of A$64.7m for the latest period, up on the previous corresponding period of A$20.6m.
John McBain, a joint managing director along with Kiwi Jason Huljich, told the Herald from Sydney today the New Zealand assets were performing as expected.
"I think we're very pleased with the New Zealand assets. Covid has been a big distraction overall but asset performance has been good. In Australia and New Zealand, the type of retail we're involved in we classify that as daily-needs retail or non-discretionary shopping," he said referring to Countdowns.
"People go there for their staples regularly so they're not sub-regional centres with lots of non-core tenants. They might go to a chemist in those centres. The supermarkets are doing well. Look at their profits, they're all up. But if you were a fashion retailer, that's one of the things we've stayed away," McBain said.
Asset Plus was advancing the construction of new offices for Auckland Council at Albany.
"That project is on budget and it will be an excellent asset," he said.
Asset Plus planned to expand 35 Graham St in Auckland. Photo / supplied
"We are looking for further assets for Asset Plus where we can add value. We've got a property in 35 Graham St, Auckland which is attracting a lot of leasing interest," he said of that empty building where Asset Plus has axed a three-story expansion.
After the council left the building, it was used temporarily as a vaccination centre but has now been empty for some time.
"You've got to match your plans to the market. Whether it's a knockdown and rebuild, we don't mind," McBain said of 35 Graham St.
At 2 Graham St across the road, McBain said the investment was performing well.
"As real estate investors, it's hard for tenants to make commitments when they're not sure whether their staff will return to work. Unfortunately, some parts of the world are going to be behind others when it comes to opening borders but it will all happen," he said.
Many parts of the world had recovered somewhat from the pandemic and offices were full.
In Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland, people were returning to offices "quite quickly". NSW and Victoria were 70-80 per cent back to the office in the first lockdown but the subsequent lockdown had reduced that percentage, he estimated.
"We understand the way people work will change. But we don't subscribe to the view that no one will come back to the office. Young staff need to be mentored. People need to meet and motivate each other. Direction and morale are important and being in the office is all part of that," McBain said.
He regretted being unable to travel to New Zealand and the staff here being unable to get to Australia. But he said he had travelled to Fiji at Christmas "where I saw a lot of New Zealanders".
On the New Zealand lockdown, McBain said: "It's a little overdone. I'd like to see it open up. Enough's enough."
He expressed great satisfaction with the result today and how it had been presented.
"These are tricky trading conditions to do results in," he said.
The dividend outlook has been upgraded from A13.2cps to A14.5cps, he said.
McBain and Huljich own a 1 per cent stake in the company. The largest institutional shareholder is Blackrock with around 9 per cent.
Centuria shares are trading around A$3.03, giving a market cap of A$2.4b.
