Cedar Woods Properties Limited (CWP) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Thank you for standing by, and welcome to the Cedar Woods Properties Limited Fiscal Year 2021 Full Year Results Presentation. [Operator Instructions] I would now like to hand the conference over to Mr. Nathan Blackburne, Managing Director. Please go ahead, sir.

Good morning, and welcome to the presentation of Cedar Woods' results for FY '21. I'm Nathan Blackburne, Cedar Woods' Managing Director; and with me is Leon Hanrahan, our CFO. In terms of today's agenda, I'll firstly provide an overview of our company, including our strategy and objectives. I'll then hand over to Leon to take us through the financial results for the year. Then I'll provide an overview of our portfolio and market conditions, and we'll then wrap up with our expectations for the business going forward. Here are a few slides about our company. Cedarwood is an ASX 300 property development company with a market capitalization of around $540 million. We develop a diverse range of product with residential land, estates, townhouses, apartments and commercial projects. We now have over 9,600 lots in our project pipeline, including conditional acquisitions that are expected to settle. And this is across 4 states and 31 projects. We have a stable Board and management team with strong governance structures and a strong corporate reputation. And as many of you know, we have demonstrated our ability to outperform the peer group. Our purpose and vision inform every decision we make as a business and have interconnected objectives. These objectives are reliable and growing income streams for our investors, quality housing or offices for our customers, vibrant communities, a high spirit and safe workplace for staff and being a loyal business partner to our suppliers. This year, we added a new value, creating community connection, in recognition of how we aim to positively impact the communities we operate in. And there is great clarity within our business on the greater purpose and strong alignment on vision and values, as is necessary for an ambitious business. There are 3 key areas in which we create value and which describes the key functions of our business. We acquire property for development following a rigorous due diligence process. We then design the project, achieve planning approvals and deliver it. And we control the marketing and sale of the products within each development to ensure a high-quality brand positioning and customer experience. In each of these areas, we have a distinct approach, and one that is characterized by discipline, focus and doing things differently. Our strategy is to grow and develop our national portfolio diversified by geography, product type and price point so that it continues to hold broad customer appeal and performs well in a range of market conditions. And this strategy is proving successful with the strong relative financial returns that we've been able to deliver. We have multiple product types in 4 states and different price points appealing to a variety of buyer profiles. And it's fair to say that this strategy is proving successful and has helped us through COVID-19. We continue to work on our 4 strategic priority areas to aid the company in achieving its objectives. And good progress has been achieved on each of these. We remain financially strong with continued support from our 3 banks and gearing, which is at the low end of our target range. To support future earnings growth, we've maintained a growth mindset, acquiring 2 sites across the nation in FY '21 and contracted several others. On operational excellence, we've been developing leading integrated systems to create efficiencies, superior controls, real-time data as well as workforce mobility. And our projects have excellent sustainability credentials. And finally, the strength of our culture and the caliber of our talent is contributing to our performance and resilience. Our workplace is high spirited and there are high staff satisfaction levels. This year, we significantly updated our ESG strategy and enhanced our ESG reporting. In our report, we have included disclosures recommended by the task force on climate-related financial disclosures. The ESG strategy builds on our enviable track record on sustainability and social responsibility. During FY '22, we will be establishing climate-related targets with a plan to report against those in the future. Highlights for FY '21 include industry awards for environmental excellence, land management and transit-oriented development across a number of our projects. The establishment of our national partnership with The Smith Family, which is Australia's leading children's education charity. And finally, progress in Board succession with the appointment of Paul Say, our new Director, who is located in Sydney and who has substantial East Coast property experience. Further details are in our ESG report, which you can find within our annual report. I'm now going to hand over to Leon to take you through the financial highlights.

Thanks, Nathan. I'll first provide a summary of our results, then talk about how our returns compare to the market and finish with some comments on the balance sheet. In financial year '21, we delivered a net profit after tax of $32.8 million and revenue of $299.8 million, from just over 1,000 settlements. Revenue and profit were up substantially on the prior year. Net profit, in fact, was up 61% on financial year '20, generating earnings per share of $0.407 and return on equity of 8.2%. Gross margin remained solid at 31%, up slightly from the 29% delivered in financial year '20 due to both changes in product mix and some net pricing improvements. With consideration given to the company's strong balance sheet, low gearing at 28% and strong liquidity position, the Board declared a $0.135 final dividend, taking total financial year '21 dividends to $0.265 per share, up 39%, and reflecting a payout ratio of approximately 65%. The last 2 years has seen a temporary departure from the long-standing dividend policy of distributing about 50% of full year net profits and dividends. With a view to returning to this policy over time, as and when profits resume to pre-COVID levels. The dividend reinvestment plan and bonus share plan will be in operation for the final dividend. We start financial year '22 in a fortunate position with more than $478 million in presale contracts on hand, up some $118 million from the $360 million reported at the same time last year. Approximately 2/3 of these presales are expected to settle in financial year '22 and guiding us to target earnings growth for financial year '22. One hallmark of our business is our track record of consistent profitability and dividends. In this chart, the blue bars show dividends over the last 10 years with the interim dividends being in dark blue at the bottom. The black line shows our profit performance over the same period. Since listing, Cedar Woods has always made a profit and always paid a dividend. COVID-19 gave rise to a softer result in financial year '20 due to economic disruptions and social distancing requirements at construction sites, which both caused a period of soft sales and the delay of a number of settlements. Financial year '21 has seen an improvement in earnings and allowed the Board to declare a higher dividend. As shown by the graph on the left, Cedar Woods' total shareholder return for financial year '21 outperformed the All Ordinaries and the ASX 300 and was a little behind the peer group on a 1-year basis in some of the other indices. However, the graph on the right shows Cedarwood continues to outperform both its peers and relevant market indices in terms of 2-year, 3-year and 5-year total shareholder returns. We are proud of this result, and we are confident that we can continue to outperform given our diversified and high-quality portfolio. We think this affirms Cedar Woods as a compelling investment opportunity. We continue to operate a strong, modestly-geared balance sheet. Total assets at 30 June of $651 million, are slightly above last year as new investment in the portfolio roughly equated to product that was settled. Net assets and equity are up on the basis of the strong result in the period and reflected in the stronger NTA. Net bank debt at 30 June of $113 million, was significantly down on last year, reflecting strong operating cash flows and gearing measured by net bank debt-to-equity and net bank debt to total tangible assets, less cash, and we remained at the lower end of the company's target range. Cedar Woods continues to maintain a strong liquidity position with the tenure of its $205 million 3- and 5-year corporate finance facility extended during the year. Interest cover finished the year at a very strong 12x, and the company continues to maintain comfortable compliance with all its facility covenants, ensuring continued, secure, long-term funding availability. Sizable facility headroom of $94 million was available at year-end and has further increased to capacity of approximately $150 million currently. This capacity puts the company in a very strong liquidity position to navigate the current environment, continue to roll out our development program and we're prudent to take advantage of compelling acquisition opportunities. I'll now hand back to Nathan.

Thank you, Leon. I now wanted to provide some insight into our portfolio and a deeper dive on some selected projects. Our projects are diverse in nature and are generally performing very well. They are often in high amenity locations and are located strategically near major transport infrastructure such as train stations and freeway interchanges. We are known for our large-scale transit-oriented developments, especially on the East Coast. And our projects are positioned as quality developments within their respective markets. These charts further demonstrate how our diversification strategy has played out. The first chart shows the proportion of our portfolio in each state with WA and Victoria playing the dominant roles. But with an increasing representation from Queensland and South Australia, consistent with our geographic diversification strategy. The next chart shows our presales by location. And as you can see, there is a greater proportion from the East Coast markets, and we expect good contributions from all states in FY '22. The chart on the right shows the mix of product in those presales with residential land still being dominant, but townhouses and apartments playing an increasing role as we broaden our product types. We continue to build upon this diversification strategy with the planned expansion of our medium-density residential portfolio. Now some comments about market conditions around the country. The year saw highs and lows due to COVID-19, but, overall, was very positive, and we ended the year with strong trading conditions. We have a view that conditions will remain favorable for some time yet, backed by solid fundamentals, especially of low interest rates and low unemployment. However, consumer confidence is being temporarily impacted by lockdowns, particularly on the East Coast, and we have yet to see stronger wage growth despite falling unemployment. So it is a bit of a mixed bag. Demand across most product types is strong, and this is expected to continue for some time, though conditions do vary slightly from state to state and between our various product types. Price growth is outpacing cost increases in most markets, but we are watching costs closely as builders process large volumes of sales, particularly from the stimulus period. Globally, there is competition for materials and the price of steel and timber, which have increased materially, are 2 examples of this. Immigration will need to return to sustain the new housing sector's performance. And when it does, sales conditions are anticipated to be favorable. Overall, we expect demand for new housing to continue to be elevated for at least the medium term, but with some interim volatility due to COVID-19. Conditions vary from state to state with the common themes being those that I talked through on the previous slide. Melbourne was subject to restrictions for a large part of the first half, but started to recover well when restrictions eased. There are some delays to apartment projects due mainly to lower inquiry, but land estates and townhouse developments are going well. We are seeing some cost pressures developing, but generally, these are being outpaced by price gains. Brisbane's recovery is driven by the resources sector, which is doing well. housing stimulus and the relative affordability of housing when compared to Sydney and Melbourne. The apartment market is improving, and we are about to launch our first apartments at the Greville project in Wooloowin. Sales at both projects have been strong and with good price growth, but some of that price growth is being eroded by growth in costs. Perth saw extraordinary sales in FY '21, which enabled us to sell residual stock and bring forward new stages. And this is mainly due to the generous stimulus that was on offer, but also the relative affordability of housing and decently performing resources sector. The surge in building has caused some supply constraints and cost pressures as builders work through the stimulus orders. In recent months, our townhouse sales have been strong, but sales have been moderate only for the land estates. Adelaide has been a strong market for much of FY '21. Conditions broadly were very favorable, driven partly by South Australians returning from interstate and overseas but also relative affordability again. Sales were great for our 2 projects there and good price growth has been achieved at both. I will now provide an overview of our state portfolios and some selected projects. Starting with WA, we have 11 residential projects and more than 4,500 lots or dwellings. We have projects catering for a range of buyer types and a mix of different products through our WA portfolio. And our product here is mainly residential lots in land estates on the Urban fringe. We are building a greater townhouse and apartment portfolio in Perth with Incontro and Subiaco, an example of this. Several new projects have started to make contributions and we are actively trying to build our portfolio in WA. And now to WA project examples, Ariella. Ariella was initially acquired in 2013, but with a subsequent 20-hectare addition acquired in 2019. It's located in Perth's sought-after Northeastern corridor. It's a vacant land subdivision with a total yield of 880 lots, and it's a strong performing high-margin project that is selling more than 100 lots per annum. The final settlements from this project are anticipated to occur in FY '25. In contrast, Subiaco is an inner ring project located 5 kilometers from Perth CBD in the sought-after suburbs of Subiaco. The master plan includes 151 townhouses and apartments and the townhouse component is 100% presold, with construction underway and Stage 1 settlements expected to occur in September 2022. Planning approval for the apartment is currently being sought and is expected to come through later in 2021. A registration of interest campaign for the apartments is currently underway with the formal sales launch expected in coming months. In Victoria, we currently have 11 projects which offer a wide range of products, including land lots, townhouses, apartments and offices. One important factor that underpins our Victorian projects is that they are in high-performing locations with little competition and have strong appeal to owner occupiers. Townhouse sales have been strong, while apartments and commercial projects have been a little slower due to COVID-19, but they are starting to pick up. Lockdowns are having an impact on development timetables due to the government-imposed restrictions on workforce numbers on construction sites. But at this stage, we are not expecting those to be material. We recently added to our Victorian portfolio with new projects at Fraser's Rise and Fieldstone, which are in the northwestern corridor of Melbourne. And with these projects adding a further 725-plus lots to the pipeline. Williams Landing is a large scale master plan development with over 3,000 homes and a large-scale mixed-use town center. The project is a diverse mix of land, townhouses, apartments and commercial developments. And there is up to 10 years project life remaining with 17 hectares of undeveloped land in the Town Center. There are numerous projects underway at the moment, including townhouses, apartment projects and strata offices. Moving to Queensland. We have 5 projects, 2 of which are located relatively close to the Brisbane CBD. Ellendale, just 12 kilometers away, continues to progress with several stages completed in the last year. And sales are doing quite well due to the lack of competition and the quality of the estate. Greville, in the suburb of Wooloowin, is just 6 kilometers north of the CBD and will deliver a mixture of townhouses and apartments. The next slide has an image of this project. So I'll move to that. So Greville is a 3.7-hectare site that was a former convent that we purchased off the Catholic church. And it's accommodating a mixture of townhouses, apartments and does have a childcare component. It is close to 2 train stations, schools and shops. And the townhouses are selling really well with strong price growth. But these gains have been somewhat eroded by increased construction costs of the project. We have the project's first apartment sales launch occurring in around September and are expecting that to go well. In Adelaide, we have 4 projects, including 3 within the Glenside estate. Glenside is a really stunning project, and one of scale in a sought-after suburb. It is 17 hectares, 3 kilometers from the CBD, and will deliver around 1,000 dwellings, 2 stages of townhouses and 1 stage of apartments have been completed, with the second stage of apartments now under construction. Sales are going really well and prices are being increased progressively. Fletcher's Slip is a 500 dwelling townhouse and apartment development in the regenerating suburb of Port Adelaide. Our civil works are well underway, and we have strong presales. This project will be a good contributor over approximately a 5- to 6-year period. Glenside, which is the 17-hectare project is 3 kilometers only from the Adelaide CBD, and it's got 1,000 townhouses and apartments and will be delivered over quite a long time frame of 8 to 10 years. The Grace Apartments project recently settled in July. The next apartment project, which is called Monarch Apartments was launched recently, and we sold 40% of the apartments within weeks. We have 62 fully presold townhouses that are under construction, and these are due to settle in the final quarter of FY '22. Fletcher Slip is 14 kilometers northwest of the Adelaide CBD, and it's got around 500 dwellings being a mixture of townhouses and apartments. It's adjacent to a train station, a beach and is close to the submarine building precinct. Stage 1 subdivision works are completed and Stage 2 well underway. Construction is commencing on 75 townhouses at the moment. And the first apartment building of the project will have sales commencing in October. And now for some commentary on our outlook for FY '22. Conditions for the new housing sector are currently positive, but with state-by-state variations. Most economists are forecasting increasing house prices nationally in 2022, while home starts are expected to decline from stimulus-induced hires. Overall, demand across most product types is expected to continue to be strong, although with some variability. Backed by presales of $478 million, the company is expecting continued growth in earnings in FY '22, and we are well placed to continue to grow earnings over the medium term. This outlook is subject to market conditions and assumes that restrictions will ease by the end of 2021, as vaccination targets are reached. We've got a long pipeline of quality projects with many in high demand and low supply locations. And together with recent acquisitions announced, we are currently assessing a number of additional sites to support earnings growth in future years. That brings us to the end of our presentation. Thank you for the interest in our company.

[Operator Instructions] At this time, there are no questions in the queue. I would like to turn the call back over to Mr. Blackburne for any closing remarks.

So thank you for tuning in everyone. That ends the presentation for Cedar Woods Properties Limited.

That does conclude our conference for today. Thank you for participating in the conference, and you may now disconnect.