This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
APN Property Group has delivered a maiden full year profit after tax of $12 million for the year ended June 30, 2006 – 50% above its IPO Prospectus forecast of $7.977 million after tax.
APN’s managing director Clive Appleton said the group which only listed in June 2005 exceeded its IPO forecasts due to a number of factors, which included an increase in funds under management of nearly $1.5 billion over the last financial year, the launch and expansion of the $900 million APN/UKA European Retail Trust and further growth in its property securities funds of nearly $500 million, which has a total value $2 billion.
In addition, profits were also secured from the development and delivery division in the first half year, which included the completion of a number of developments or legacy projects such as 380 La Trobe St and the Bendigo Bank building in Melbourne.
Over the year, Appleton said the business had made significant inroads with the launch new funds and expanding existing funds with total funds under management increasing by the equivalent of over $120 million per month.
He added this would not only diversify the revenue stream of the business but also provide a stronger basis for growth in annuity style earnings.
“Importantly all of our funds have performed at or above expectations with our flagship fund, the APN Property for Income Fund, the largest retail property securities fund in Australia, delivering a return of 18.91%, yet again exceeding its benchmark for the year to June 2006, despite its low risk profile,” Appleton said.
Since the end of the financial year, the company has continued to significantly expand with the successful launch of the $179 million APN/UKA Vienna Retail Fund.
The launch of the APN/UKA Vienna Retail Fund reflects an expanded strategy to create a series of unlisted fixed term funds for Australian investors which invest in European property assets.
“We have invested significantly in creating the Intellectual Property required to structure funds efficiently for Australian investors to access European property and through our Joint Venture Partner, UKA, we have established a proven acquisition pipeline, the combination of which we intend to leverage to create new investment opportunities,” Appleton said. “These transactions as well as some other acquisitions which have already been secured will see Funds under Management increase to nearly $3.7 billion by December 2006. A further important development during the year was the opening of a London office with joint venture partner UKA.”
Over the year, shares in APD have traded substantially above the issue price of $1.00 to close at $2.38 at the end of the financial year.
Appleton said as at June 2006, the company, whose core business is property funds management, managed 11 property funds with total assets of nearly $3.4 billion; a number he said was already set to further grow substantially during this financial year.
APN has declared a final dividend of 4 cents per share taking total dividend for financial year 2006 to 8 cents per share fully franked, up from 6.2 cents forecast in IPO.
By Adam Parsons
