Scentre Group FY19 FFO Rises – Quick Facts

Scentre Group (STGPF.PK, SCG.AX), the owner and operator of Westfield shopping centres in Australia and New Zealand, reported Tuesday that its funds from operations or FFO for year ended 31 December 2019 was A$1.345 billion, up 0.4 percent from A$1.339 billion in the prior year, and in line with the company’s forecast.

On a per security basis, FFO rose 0.7 percent to 25.42 Australian cents from 25.24 Australian cents last year, and increased 3.2 percent on a pro forma basis after adjusting for the transactions completed during 2019.

However, profit after tax attributable to members of Scentre Group for fiscal 2019 was A$1.180 billion for the year, down 48.4 percent from A$2.287 billion last year.

Operating earnings, or the Group’s FFO excluding project income, was A$1.287 billion, compared to A$1.279 billion last year. Operating earnings per security rose 1.0 percent, or 3.6 percent on a pro forma basis, to 24.34 Australian cents.

Comparable net operating income for the year increased 2.0 percent, primarily driven by 4 percent average contracted rent escalations for specialty tenants and the company’s continued focus on curating the best offer in its centres.

Scentre said that its distribution per security for the full 2019 financial year will be 22.60 cents.

Scentre added that it will target net zero emissions across its wholly-owned portfolio by 2030 and will continue work in fiscal 2020 to align its various initiatives to this target.

Looking ahead, the Group forecast fiscal 2020 operating earnings between 24.75 and 24.80 cents per security. This would represent growth, on a pro forma basis, of approximately 3.1 percent.

The Group forecasts FFO for the the year 31 December 2020 to be about 25.30 cents per security, representing growth of about 0.7 percent on a pro forma basis.

The Group forecasts to achieve project income, after tax, of approximately A$28 million, compared to A$57 million last year. This is a function of the amount of project work currently underway on joint ventured assets.

The company projects distribution for 2020 to be 23.28 cents per security, an increase of 3 percent In future years, the company expects distributions to grow in line with growth in operating earnings.

Source: Read Full Article