Abacus Property Group confident on residential settlements despite council slowdown

Aug 21 2016 at 4:09 PM Updated Aug 21 2016 at 6:19 PM Abacus Property Group, which owns commercial, retail and storage property across Australia, says Sydney's council amalgamations are stalling valuable residential developments. Supplied Share on twitter Share on Google Plus by Matthew Cranston Abacus Property Group managing director Frank Wolf says Sydney's council amalgamation has stalled valuable residential property developments but that the new regime was something that had to be introduced and would deliver improved efficiencies. Dr Wolf made the comments when delivering a strong full-year result for the private equity-style real estate investment trust, with a $190 million net profit up 39 per cent, largely from property revaluations and stronger income from its storage division. Abacus, which owns commercial, retail and storage property across Australia, also controls about 9000 units or land lots. The group's residential project in Camellia, Sydney has been delayed largely because of the disruption following the council amalgamation. "[The amalgamation] has caused delays to a number of rezoning applications and has created uncertainty to delivery and realisation timings," Mr Wolf said. Managing director Frank Wolf delivered a strong full-year result for Abacus on Friday. Managing director Frank Wolf delivered a strong full-year result for Abacus on Friday. Michele Mossop "We are disappointed with the delays in our residential development approvals that have eventuated as a result of the council amalgamations in Sydney," he said. "But we are confident that these timing delays will not ultimately impact our anticipated returns." "Once the councils get tidied up I think it will be a positive. [Premier Mike] Baird has done what should have been done decades ago – I think he has shown great strength and character to do this." Confident about settlements Abacus has about $500 million invested in residential projects in inner city markets across the eastern seaboard of Australia and is confident that hundreds of settlements due in the next few months will go ahead without any concerns. While Abacus enjoyed strong transactional returns from a number of development projects during the year, it did book a large impairment on its Muswellbrook residential development as a result of the downturn in the resources sector. In the group's commercial operations, like-for-like rent growth was just over 2.7 per cent for the period. The commercial portfolio delivered a 5.7 per cent increase in value or $74 million in fiscal 2016. Abacus continued to create third-party capital joint ventures where it maintains management of the asset and increases earnings from fees and rental income. It entered into agreement with Goldman Sachs to acquire 201 Pacific Highway in Sydney for $115 million and with the Zenonos Group to acquire Lutwyche City Shopping Centre in Brisbane for $65 million. Abacus' self-storage portfolio was the standout performer, delivering a $69 million profit for the year – a 45 per cent increase on the previous year. The group delivered a distribution of 17¢ per security for the full year, but has not provided guidance. Read more: http://www.afr.com/real-estate/abacus-property-group-confident-on-residential-settlements-despite-council-slowdown-20160818-gqw93m?utm_content=buffer7c2e4&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer#ixzz4RxIgfUXS Follow us: @FinancialReview on Twitter | financialreview on Facebook ============================ Distributions & Tax Distribution Policy Abacus Property Group’s distribution policy is to maintain or grow distributions per security, subject to the financial performance of the Group and the cash requirements of delivering future growth. Security holder distributions are sourced from the underlying profits of the Group. Payment of distributions Abacus Property Group currently pays distributions six monthly. Distributions are paid within two months of the end of each period, usually in February and August each year. Distributions may comprise distributions from Abacus Trust, Abacus Income Trust and Abacus Storage Property Trust and dividends from Abacus Group Holdings Limited, Abacus Group Projects Limited and Abacus Storage Operations Limited. You can choose to have your distributions: •paid directly into your nominated bank account; or •reinvested in additional securities via the Distribution Reinvestment Plan. Distribution reinvestment The Distribution Reinvestment Plan is a convenient way to increase your holding in Abacus Property Group securities without incurring brokerage. Before applying you should read the terms of the DRP. Click here for a copy of the DRP terms. The DRP is currently in operation and, if you have elected to participate, distributions are converted into new securities at the relevant DRP issue price. There is currently a 2.5% discount applied to the DRP issue price. If you want to participate in the DRP, or vary or terminate your participation, please visit our registry Investor login facility to update your instructions online or call 1300 139 440 . Record of distributions and DRP pricing Table of historic pricing and distributions Tax Information Abacus Property Group’s financial year end for tax purposes is 30 June, at which time the components of the distribution are determined. The total annual distribution and tax components are reported in the Annual Tax Statement which is mailed to securityholders who received distributions in August each year. This will include the information you require to maintain your taxation records. A copy of your Annual Tax Statement can be downloaded online by using the Investor login facility. You will need to log in using your SRN/HIN, surname and postcode. Non-resident investors Security holders who are not Australian residents for Australian tax purposes should seek their own investment and taxation advice. For more information, visit the Australian Tax Office website. Tax components For a record of tax component information for previous financial years and estimates of tax components for the current financial year, click below. Table of tax components. Half year tax components are estimates only. The final taxation components of the current year distributions will be shown on your Annual Tax Statement which will be issued by the end of August. Cost base Abacus Property Group securities are stapled securities. Each security comprises one unit in Abacus Trust, one unit in Abacus Income Trust, one unit in Abacus Storage Property Trust, one share in Abacus Group Holdings Limited, one share in Abacus Group Projects Limited and one share in Abacus Storage Operations Limited. For capital gains tax purposes, investors who sell their Abacus Property Group securities will need to apportion the cost of each security and the consideration received on disposal of each security between the units in the trusts and the shares in the companies. Detailed information on the CGT consequences of disposal of stapled securities is provided on the Australian Tax Office website. To assist investors in calculating their CGT position, the following information is provided on the apportionment of the security price between the trusts and the companies. Table of cost base information TFN/ABN Provision of your TFN (Tax File Number) or ABN (Australian Business Number) is not compulsory. However, if a TFN/ABN is not provided, we are required to deduct tax at the highest marginal tax rate plus Medicare levy from all distributions paid. You can provide your TFN/ABN by contacting our registry on 1300 139 440 or via their Investor login facility.