Australand lifts H1 profit to $131.54m

Property group Australand has lifted its first half profit by 49 per cent and says it is on track to increase annual earnings.

Property developer Australand is on track to lift its annual earnings even if a $2.6 billion takeover offer from a Singapore company falls through.

Australand on Monday reported a 49 per cent rise in net profit to $131.54 million for the six months to June 30.

The company said that if the takeover offer from Frasers Centrepoint lapses, it still expects to increase earnings per security by 20-25 per cent in 2014.

Earnings per security are also expected to rise by 10-15 per cent from 2014 to the end of calendar 2016.

However, if the takeover proceeds as planned, Australand said the guidance could change as Frasers has flagged plans to carry out a major review of the Australian property group.

Australand's residential property division lifted its first half operating earnings by 37.6 per cent to $30.7 million.

The division's aggregate sales revenues fell 3.5 per cent during the half, but Australand said sales activity remained strong.

But the commercial and industrial division's earnings slipped 17 per cent to $8.2 million after a fall in aggregate sales revenue, while the investment property division was fairly flat at $97.8 million.

Australand lifted its unfranked interim distribution to 12.75 cents per security, from 10.5 cents a year earlier.

Frasers Centrepoint received approval to proceed with its takeover offer from the Foreign Investment Review Board in early July.

Australand's board of directors has backed the takeover proposal and recommended shareholders accept the offer, which trumped a $2.5 billion bid from Australian rival Stockland.


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