- The annual net profit of Shopping Centres Australasia Property Group grew dramatically, owing to a shift to shopping locally
- Net profit after tax of $462.9 million, up by 441.4 per cent compared to the same period last year primarily due to an increase in the value of properties
- CEO Anthony Mellowes says the shift to shopping locally has meant its anchor tenants have experienced strong sales growth and turnover rent
- SCP did not give FY22 guidance because of the ongoing uncertainty generated by the COVID-19 pandemic
- Shares in SCA were down 1.13 per cent, finishing the day of trading at $2.62
The annual net profit of Shopping Centres Australasia Property Group (SCP) grew dramatically, owing to a shift to shopping locally.
Net profit after tax of $462.9 million, up by 441.4 per cent compared to the same period last year was primarily due to an increase in the value of investment properties.
Funds from operations (FFO) increased 12.9 per cent rising to $159 million, with an FFO per unit of 14.76 cents per unit (cpu), an increase of 0.8 per cent over FY20.
Adjusted funds from operations (AFFO) of $135.8 million was up 9.3 per cent from FY20 while AFFO per unit of 12.61 cpu was down 2.6 per cent from FY20.
CEO Anthony Mellowes said the shift to shopping locally has meant its anchor tenants have experienced strong sales growth and turnover rent.
“Specialty tenant sales recovered quickly following the easing of restrictions and leasing spreads were positive in the second half of the financial year,” he said.
Moving annual profits, for stores open more than 24 months, rose across the board, with speciality stores (9.7 per cent), discount department stores (9.2 per cent) and mini-majors (6.4 per cent) enjoying the most growth.
Despite the positive results, CFO Mark Flemming, said the pandemic continued to negatively impact FY21 results.
“During the financial year we provided $10.5 million in rental assistance to over 800 tenants (comprising rent waivers of $6.9 million and rent deferrals of $3.6 million), however rent collection rates returned to pre-pandemic levels by the end of the period,” he said.
“Our balance sheet remains in a strong position. As at 30 June 2021 we had cash and undrawn facilities of $290.6 million and our gearing was at 31.3 per cent which is towards the lower end of our target range of 30 to 40 per cent.
“We will also raise $72.4 million in new equity by underwriting our DRP in August 2021, and this means that we could debt fund approximately $190 million of further acquisitions during FY22 and still keep our gearing below 35 per cent.”
Due to acquisitions of $452.4 million and a like-for-like valuation rise of $409.4 million, the value of investment properties grew to $4 billion over the period from $3.138 billion as of June 30 2020.
SCP did not give FY22 guidance because of the ongoing uncertainty generated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Shares in SCP were down 1.13 per cent, finishing the day of trading at $2.62.