L67 Property Operators and Real Estate Services

SCA profit jumps as shoppers spend up

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Original article by Elizabeth Redman
The Australian – Page: 23 : 9-Aug-17

The listed Shopping Centres Australasia Property Group has posted a 2016-17 profit of $A319.6m, which is 73 per cent higher than previously. The total value of its portfolio of shopping centres rose from $A1.89bn to $A2.36bn. The real estate investment trust has advised that it has rebalanced its mix of tenants to include non-discretionary retailers that are less likely to lose customers to online giant Amazon than outlets such as clothing stores.

CORPORATES
SHOPPING CENTRES AUSTRALASIA PROPERTY GROUP – ASX SCP, AMAZON.COM INCORPORATED, CHARTER HALL RETAIL REIT – ASX CQR

Be cautious about retail landlords, Citi warns clients

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Original article by Nick Lenaghan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 37 : 8-Aug-17

Shares in listed retail property trusts such as Vicinity Centres, Scentre Group and Westfield Corporation have struggled recently, due to concern that their tenants will be damaged by the arrival of Amazon in Australia. However, the general consensus of analysts is that retail real estate investment trusts will post earnings growth of five per cent for 2018. Citigroup is less optimistic than some of its peers, predicting growth of just 3.5 per cent.

CORPORATES
VICINITY CENTRES – ASX VCX, SCENTRE GROUP – ASX SCG, WESTFIELD CORPORATION – ASX WFD, AMAZON.COM INCORPORATED, CITIGROUP PTY LTD, BUNNINGS GROUP LIMITED, CHARTER HALL RETAIL REIT – ASX CQR, SHOPPING CENTRES AUSTRALASIA PROPERTY GROUP – ASX SCP, CLSA AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, GOODMAN GROUP – ASX GMG, STOCKLAND – ASX SGP, INVESTA OFFICE FUND – ASX IOF, MIRVAC GROUP – ASX MGR, BWP TRUST – ASX BWP

Retail property sentiment dips

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Original article by Elizabeth Redman
The Australian – Page: 23 : 28-Jul-17

National Australia Bank’s latest survey of the commercial property sector has revealed that sentiment is at its least optimistic in the retail property segment. Sentiment in that category is at its lowest since the end of 2014, in part due to the looming arrival of Amazon. Sentiment towards CBD hotels is also down, but sentiment in the office and industrial segments rose. Looking at individual states, sentiment has improved in Victoria, Queensland and Western Australia, but declined in New South Wales.

CORPORATES
NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, AMAZON.COM INCORPORATED

Lendlease tops up pool to close pay gap

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Original article by Turi Condon
The Australian – Page: 19 & 23 : 26-Jul-17

Lendlease CEO Steve McCann says companies need to constantly monitor salaries to combat the gender pay. Lendlease has increased its salary pool in recent years to ensure pay equity, and the company has been actively monitoring the salaries of male and female workers in comparable roles since 2014. Meanwhile, the Property Male Champions of Change has advised that the gender balance in leadership roles at its member organisations rose to 30 per cent in 2016-17, compared with 22.1 per cent in 2014-15.

CORPORATES
LEND LEASE GROUP LIMITED – ASX LLC, PROPERTY MALE CHAMPIONS OF CHANGE, DEXUS PROPERTY GROUP – ASX DXS, STOCKLAND – ASX SGP, MIRVAC GROUP – ASX MGR, SCENTRE GROUP – ASX SCG, SAVILLS (AUST) HOLDINGS PTY LTD, CUSHMAN AND WAKEFIELD PTY LTD, FRASERS PROPERTY GROUP, JONES LANG LASALLE AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, CHARTER HALL GROUP – ASX CHC, GPT GROUP – ASX GPT, BRITISH BROADCASTING CORPORATION

Charter Hall tipped to pay $A250 million for Hastings

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Original article by Nick Lenaghan, Matthew Cranston
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 32 : 25-Jul-17

Charter Hall Group and Westpac have reported that they are in discussions with a view to the former buying Westpac’s Hastings Funds Management business. Hastings, which was started by former Carlton football player Mike Fitzpatrick, has an infrastructure portfolio valued at $A14.3 billion, with investments in assets such as the port of Newcastle and Perth Airport. Experts suggest that Charter Hall will have to pay about $A250 million for Hastings.

CORPORATES
CHARTER HALL GROUP – ASX CHC, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, HASTINGS FUNDS MANAGEMENT LIMITED, CARLTON FOOTBALL CLUB LIMITED, QIC LIMITED, AMP CAPITAL INVESTORS LIMITED, BROOKFIELD CAPITAL MANAGEMENT LIMITED

Foreign apartment buyers to halve

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Original article by Michael Bleby
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 31 : 24-Jul-17

The number of new apartments funded by foreign investors in Australia is tipped to fall significantly over the period from 2016 to 2019, according to Master Builders Australia. It attributes the expected decline to federal and New South Wales government curbs on foreign property investors. The MBA also expects foreign investment in new standalone properties to decline, but by not as much as apartment investment. The MBA expects NSW to feel the biggest impact in terms of a decline in new foreign investor-funded apartments, but Tim Lawless of CoreLogic suggests that Victoria instead will be most affected.

CORPORATES
MASTER BUILDERS OF AUSTRALIA, CORELOGIC AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

Housing supply ‘does not lower prices’

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Original article by Su-Lin Tan
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 32 : 24-Jul-17

House price and new home approval figures for 2016 seem to bear out the view of Joe Flood that boosting housing supply does not lead to lower prices. New home commencements rose by 14,000, but house prices showed no sign of falling, particularly in Sydney and Melbourne. Flood, who works for affordable home supplier Community Housing, says governments may need to develop a revised version of the National Rental Affordability Scheme, while curbs on housing finance and tax changes could also help the situation.

CORPORATES
COMMUNITY HOUSING LIMITED, CURTIN UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES

Sydney unit rents on par with houses as affordability bites

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Original article by Michael Bleby
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 20-Jul-17

Data from Domain Group shows that the median weekly rent for apartments in Sydney rose by 4.8 per cent in the year to June 2017. The median weekly rent for detached houses increased by 3.8 per cent. Meanwhile, the median weekly rent for apartments and houses in Melbourne increased by 5.3 per cent and five per cent respectively. The figures also show that the median house price in Sydney rose by 1.6 per cent to a new high of $A1,178,417 in the June quarter, while the median price in Melbourne rose 3.5 per cent to $A865,712.

CORPORATES
DOMAIN.COM.AU, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ

CLSA slaps a buy on listed retail landlords

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Original article by Matthew Cranston
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 28 : 20-Jul-17

Shares in Australian-listed real estate investment trusts have fallen sharply in 2017, with Westfield Corporation and Vicinity Centres shedding 16.7 per cent and 13.7 per cent respectively. The A-REIT sector has fallen by about 10 per cent in the last month, but Sholto Maconochie of CLSA is upbeat about the outlook for the sector, and retail property trusts in particular. CLSA favours Scentre Group and Vicinity Centres, and the firm’s rating on the latter has been upgraded to "outperform".

CORPORATES
WESTFIELD CORPORATION – ASX WFD, VICINITY CENTRES – ASX VCX, SCENTRE GROUP – ASX SCG, CLSA AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, CBRE PTY LTD, CHADSTONE SHOPPING CENTRE, DEXUS PROPERTY GROUP – ASX DXS, INVESTA OFFICE FUND – ASX IOF

Housing price rises to halve, says NAB

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Original article by Elizabeth Redman
The Australian – Page: 6 : 14-Jul-17

National Australia Bank forecasts that house prices in the nation’s capital cities will rise by just five per cent in 2017, compared with growth of 11.6 per cent in 2016. NAB also expects growth in apartment prices to fall from 5.9 per cent in 2016 to three per cent. Chief economist Alan Oster says growth in residential property prices will be constrained by factors such as low growth in wages, the high level of dwelling construction and measures aimed at curbing foreign investment in the housing market.

CORPORATES
NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, PROPERTY COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED, CORELOGIC AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, MORTGAGE CHOICE LIMITED – ASX MOC