Stockland keeps guidance despite half-year profit slump
Make us a preferred source
Make us a preferred source on Google
The news: Property developer Stockland has posted a slump in half-year profit and revenue due to fewer settlements, but has kept its full-year earnings guidance intact.
The numbers: The company said net profit for the six months to December 2023 sank 66.2% to $102 million, while revenue was down 19% to $934 million.
Funds from operations at its master planned communities (MPC) business were down to $40 million from $113 million a year ago, because more settlements are skewed to the second half of this fiscal. It will pay an interim distribution of 8 cents per security.
Stockland shares were up 0.2% to $4.62 in early trading on the ASX.
The context: The developer attributed the weak result to making fewer residential settlements in the first half. However, net new residential sales rose as consumers grew more confident about the outlook for interest rates, up to 2,172 lots compared with 1,804 lots a year earlier.
In December, Stockland agreed to buy 12 Australian communities projects from Lendlease for $1.06 billion as part of reshaping its portfolio. The company has reaffirmed its full-year guidance for pretax earnings of 34.5 to 35.5 cents per share.
What they said: “We are seeing early signs of improvement in residential markets and are positioning our master planned communities and land lease businesses for increased production rates to meet demand in future periods,” chief executive Tarun Gupta said.
The source: ASX announcement
