Charter Hall Group has announced operating earnings of $195.1 million for the first half of the 2024 financial year.
In an ASX announcement on Wednesday, the fund manager reported this was 18.7 per cent lower than the $239.9 million posted in the prior corresponding period, having seen property investment valuation drop $282.3 million.
In terms of the group’s funds management portfolio by sector, the highest allocation was to office (32.9 per cent), followed by industrials and logistics (20.6 per cent).
Statutory earnings after tax stood at a loss of $190 million, compared to $226.5 for 1H23.
David Harrison, managing director and group chief executive at Charter Hall, said the group had “continued the ongoing curation” of the portfolios it managed. This included developing new assets, modernising prime located assets, and selectively divesting older, non-core assets.
For the period ending 31 December 2023, the property investment portfolio value was $2.8 billion, some 4 per cent of the group’s property platform of approximately $68 billion.
“No single asset represents more than 4 per cent of portfolio investments; government covenants are the largest tenant exposure and make-up 24 per cent of portfolio income, whilst 20 per cent of net income is derived from leases with CPI-linked rent reviews, complementing market rent reviews, fixed annual rent escalations, and turnover growth-driven rent increases,” Charter Hall explained.
Meanwhile, group funds under management (FUM) fell by $4.8 billion to $82.6 billion, consisting of $14.9 billion of Paradice Investment Management FUM and $67.7 billion of property FUM.
Charter Hall said development completions totalled $3 billion in the last 12 months.
“Development activity continues to drive modern asset creation, enhancing returns which continues to attract new capital to our funds and deliver on strategies,” it stated.
“Notwithstanding completions, the pipeline continues to be restocked and is currently $12.8 billion with $5 billion in committed development project value.”
