Higher finance costs weigh on Charter Hall Retail profit
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The news: Shopping mall investor Charter Hall Retail REIT has trimmed distribution after a slide in full-year profit as higher finance costs weighed.
The numbers: Statutory profit for the year to 30 June fell 54.5% to $17.2 million, while operating earnings were down 4.7% to $159 million. It paid a final distribution of 12.4 cents per security, down from 12.8 cents a year ago.
Shares were up 1.4% to $3.59 in early trading on the ASX.
The context: The group recorded total property income growth of 3.2% despite divesting five non-core assets for $315 million during the year.
However, finance costs jumped to $64.9 million, with weighted average cost of debt rising to 4.4% from 3.4%.
Charter Hall retail CEO Ben Ellis said the portfolio continued to deliver strong operational performance and the group is well-placed for the future with significant balance sheet capacity and ongoing opportunities for further divestments.
The REIT expects to deliver like-for-like property income growth in FY25, with earnings to be 25.4 cents a security and distribution of 24.7 cents a security.
The source: ASX announcement
