- Charter Hall (CHC) has kept the good times rolling at it raised statutory profit after tax from $545.9 million in FY20 to $476.8 million in FY21
- The company is paying an FY21 distribution of 37.9 cents per security which continues the group’s ongoing trend of distribution growth
- Thanks to acquisitions, positive reevaluations and capex spending on developments, funds under management rose to $52.3 billion
- The portfolio enjoys a 6.1 per cent investment yield, 97.4 per cent occupancy rate and an average 9.1 weighted average lease expiry period
- Shares in CHC are up 6.09 per cent to $18.30
Charter Hall (CHC) has kept the good times rolling at it raised statutory profit after tax from $545.9 million in FY20 to $476.8 million in FY21 while increasing its funds under management by nearly $12 billion.
The company is paying an FY21 distribution of 37.9 cents per security which continues the group’s ongoing trend of raising its distributions per security each year.
However, the company witnessed its first fall in operating earnings per security which fell from 69.3 cents per security in FY20 to 61 cents per security in FY21 based on operating earnings of $284.3 million.
The group has enjoyed the macrotrend of happy property players, with $5.9 billion in net acquisitions, a $4.1 billion positive revaluation and $1.8 billion in expenditure on development leading its managed funds to increase by $11.7 billion in FY21 or 29 per cent.
Asset creation and capital attraction continue to be driven by development activities. The previous 12 months saw a total of $1.1 billion in development completions. Despite recent completions, the pipeline continues to be replenished and has expanded to $8.8 billion in value.
Charter Hall managing director and group CEO, David Harrison, said fund management is in the company’s DNA.
“Importantly we have generated record fund inflows, gross transactions and FUM growth of $11.7 billion in FY21, whilst generating sector leading returns for our investor customers and shareholders,” he said.
Mr Harrison said it has generated $5.3 billion of gross equity inflows, with all equity sources reporting strong inputs.
“Funds under management grew 29 per cent as our strategy of securing long-leases with best-in-class tenants continued to drive returns for investors,” he said.
“We transacted on a record $10.1 billion of assets, successfully deploying our investment strategies both on and off-market. Sale and leaseback transactions represented over 40 per cent of our transaction activity as we continue to partner with tenants and investors to unlock investment opportunities.”
This included over 100 transactions with 20 active fund/partnerships spread across its industrial and logistics, long WALE retail, office and social infrastructure portfolios for $8 billion, with $2.1 billion in divestments.
The portfolio enjoys a 6.1 per cent investment yield, 97.4 per cent occupancy rate, an average 9.1 weighted average lease expiry period with a 3.1 per cent average rental review.
While managing more than $20 billion in debt across its fund portfolio, the group executed $9 billion in financings and was an active issuer in the local and international capital markets.
The FY22 profits projection calls for a minimum of 75 cps in post-tax operating earnings per security if present market circumstances do not change materially, the company said.
Payout per security is expected to rise by six per cent in FY22 over FY21, according to the guidance.
Shares in CHC were up 6.09 per cent to $18.30 at 12:31 pm AEST.