Precinct Properties NZ Ltd & Precinct Properties Investments Ltd (PCT) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Thank you for standing by, and welcome to the Precinct Properties 2026 Full-Year Results. [Operator Instructions] I would now like to hand the conference over to Mr. Scott Pritchard, Chief Executive Officer. Please go ahead.

Thank you, Drew, and good morning, everyone, and welcome to the 2026 Annual Results Briefing for Precinct. I'm joined today by George Crawford, Precinct's Deputy CEO; Richard Hilder, Precinct's Chief Financial Officer; and Anthony Randell, our General Manager of Property. The agenda for today's call is outlined on Page 2 of the presentation. I will shortly provide an overview of the highlights of the result and the key themes our business is facing before providing an overview of our strategic progress. I'll then hand over to Richard, who will detail the financial result before George provides an overview of our capital partnerships and the investment market. Anth will provide an update on our portfolio performance. And following that, I'll spend some time on our development projects, including some more detail on the proposed Downtown development. Finally, I'll provide some concluding comments, and we'll be happy to answer any questions you may have. Turning to Page 3. We are pleased with the achievements over the past 12 months, in particular, our investment portfolio, which has retained occupancy at 97%, and has materially increased our weighted average lease term to over 7 years. Most notably has been the extent of leasing in the period with close to 40,000 square meters of leasing completed, an all-time high for the business while achieving solid leasing spreads. From a development perspective, we have completed over $0.5 billion in developments, including 55 Molesworth Street in Wellington on behalf of Precinct and 2 build-to-sell residential apartment buildings for our capital partners. We have also advanced our capital partnering strategy with the growth across our office platforms of around $800 million in the period. Funds from operations of $0.0731 per share was in line with our forecast. An NTA reduction from $1.18 to $1.13 is largely attributable to development assets, mainly Downtown, which we expect to recover if we commit to the project. Page 4 sets out our key achievements in the period, including the PwC Tower transaction with PAG, the growth in our portfolio alongside GIC, where we acquired the ASB building in Auckland and the completion of Molesworth Street in Wellington, which offers us a 25-year net lease from government. These transactions, alongside our equity issue in October and the settlement of the InterContinental Hotel and our PBSA development at 22 Stanley Street contribute to more than $1 billion in capital management initiatives, positioning our balance sheet to be able to take advantage of accretive opportunities in the future. Page 5 sets out a summary of the key themes, which we are observing in our markets. After an encouraging start to the year, the last 4 months have been volatile following a broader set of market impacts. Pleasingly, we are seeing a range of signs, which suggest the market is beginning to improve with demand for premium office remaining robust, retail sales at Commercial Bay growing and appetite from capital partners remaining elevated. The office market, in particular, has been very resilient, with occupiers prioritizing their workplace and continuing to encourage employees back to the office. This has led to continued demand for premium stock, underpinning further growth in market rents. It has been very satisfying over the past 12 months to see continued demand from offshore capital to invest in New Zealand. They continue to be attracted to world-class real estate along with attractive investment settings in New Zealand. This demand is expected to remain as the economy begins to grow. Now turning to Page 7 and an overview of our business and strategy. Precinct has grown its total assets under management, including its owned assets to around $5.2 billion, comprising $4.2 billion of office assets, $0.5 billion of student accommodation assets, $200 million of residential build-to-sell assets. Precinct also owns a $300 million pipeline of land or brownfield development sites, which scales to around $4 billion on a fully completed basis. Capital partnerships now total $2.2 billion, which George will discuss further shortly. Turning to Page 8, which sets out our strategic targets in terms of capital partnerships and portfolio exposures. With $3.1 billion of invested capital, Precinct is targeting having 25% of its capital invested in partnerships, and we currently have around 10% allocated. Within that 25%, we are now focused towards having 20% allocated in commercial office, with 5% allocated in the living sector. And for clarity, the living sector exposure includes both PBSA and build-to-sell residential apartments. Notably, this represents a moderate down weighting to residential apartments, while exposure to PBSA remains constant. With regards to build-to-sell residential, we continue to review and refine our target market, with projects now anticipated to be smaller, more premium and focused towards the downsizer market. These will predominantly be undertaken on balance sheet unless where we have a joint venture partner such as Orams. And finally, before I hand over to Rich, Page 9 sets out some reflections after the progress we have made in the past few years. We are pleased with the growth in capital partnerships and the support provided by our third-party investor base. We have now completed 2 build-to-sell residential projects on behalf of capital partners, which has provided significant learning opportunities. We have successfully entered the PBSA market and see more potential for growth given the continued supply-demand imbalance. Perhaps most importantly, we are continuing to adjust our settings to ensure we manage risk and return on behalf of our shareholders. This is most observable in the decision today to reduce our residential exposure and target smaller, more accretive projects while still adopting our successful approach of securing development opportunities. Ultimately, based on encouraging feedback from our third-party investor base, we continue to believe that we need to keep building world-class real estate through our well-established development platform to be able to keep attracting partner capital. I'd now like to hand over to Rich to take you through the financial results.

Thank you, and good morning, everyone. FY '26 was a year of strong operating performance, significant balance sheet strengthening and continued progress across the business. Operating profit before indirect expenses and income tax increased to $162.7 million. Funds from operations increased to $0.0731 per share, in line with guidance and up 3% on the prior year. During the year, we completed $1.2 billion of capital management initiatives through the equity raise, strategic asset sales and capital partnering transactions. Total comprehensive income was a loss of $12.6 million and NTA per share reduced from $1.21 to $1.13. Turning to directly held property FFO. The core investment portfolio delivered another resilient result. Investment property FFO was $149.9 million and broadly consistent with the prior year. After adjusting for surrender payments and other one-off income received last year, underlying earnings from the investment portfolio increased by 1.3% on a like-for-like basis. The Auckland office portfolio continued to benefit from rental growth and strong leasing activity. However, earnings growth was a modest 0.8% as lower physical occupancy due to leasing timing partially offset the positive contribution from rental growth, while Wellington delivered good earnings growth despite softer market conditions. The year benefited from earnings from the recently completed Molesworth development and from the acquisition of the Downtown Car Park. As a result, directly held property FFO increased 7.6% to $161.7 million. Turning to the next slide. Underlying FFO increased 7.6% to around $174 million. The largest driver of growth was the contribution from transactions and development activities, including earnings recognized from 22 Stanley Street. Importantly, $15 million of profit and risk allowance remains, which is expected to be released over the balance of the development. The outlook for management fee income has improved, following the establishment of the PwC Tower partnership, the acquisition of ASB North Wharf and continued growth in capital partnering activities. This earnings stream was lower than the prior year due to the completion of Beca House in Auckland and disposal of the remaining interest in 40 and 44 Bowen Street. The increase in employment and administration expenses was primarily driven by Precinct Flex employees being brought into Precinct's management business. Turning to the next slide. Funds from operations increased to $129.5 million, representing $0.0731 per share and a dividend payout ratio of 92%. Net interest expense remained broadly consistent with the prior year despite significant changes to the balance sheet during the period. Interest expense associated with equity accounted development investments increased to $1.3 million, creating an earnings headwind equivalent to 8 basis points. And lastly, the current tax benefit increased, largely reflecting the investment boost production associated with the Molesworth development. Turning now to NTA and valuations. NTA per share reduced from $1.18 as at December to $1.13, following a further valuation decline in the second half of $77 million. Valuation performance across the portfolio is mixed. Auckland office values remained relatively resilient, with rental growth helping offset some softening in cap rates. Wellington remained weaker, reflecting softer net rents due in part to higher rates across many of the buildings. The largest valuation impacts occurred within the development assets, particularly relating to Downtown. These valuation movements were expected and reflect the current stage of the developments, and they're occurring before the value anticipated from leasing, construction and project delivery is realized. Turning to capital management. FY '26 was a significant year from a capital management perspective, with significant initiatives executed in the period. With the HB convertible notes maturing in late September, we intend to repay these in cash using the proceeds from the recently issued $65 million wholesale bond. Following the PwC Tower transaction and the repayment of the convertible notes, pro forma gearing reduces to 29% at year-end. Liquidity remains good, funding sources remain diversified and all financial covenants were comfortably satisfied. The weighted average cost of debt remains around 5%, while lower debt levels position the business to benefit from the deployment of capital. The next slide outlines our approach to capital management. The actions undertaken during the year materially strengthened the balance sheet and reflects our disciplined approach to capital management. Our financial risk management policy provides the framework for ensuring commitments are appropriately funded, liquidity is maintained and gearing remains aligned with our risk settings. This discipline is particularly important as we move towards key development and investment decisions, including Downtown. Importantly, the pathway to a Downtown decision is well understood. The de-gearing completed during the year and continued progress on further funding initiatives give us several ways to support a commitment. We have a broad set of capital levers available, including partnering, asset recycling and capital markets funding. As part of that toolkit, subordinated convertible notes remain available where they provide efficient capital and align with shareholder outcomes. Overall, the framework provides the resilience and flexibility to fund future opportunities while maintaining balance sheet discipline. Turning to earnings outlook. Looking ahead, the business enters FY '27 from a position of strength. Operationally, occupancy remains at 97%. Leasing activity has been at record levels and rental growth continues to support earnings across the portfolio. At the same time, initiatives completed during FY '26 provide additional earnings opportunities. These include income from recently established partnerships, management fee growth, development management activity and future development earnings as projects progress. While market conditions remain mixed, improving economic activity, stronger leasing conditions and a substantially stronger balance sheet provides confidence in the medium term. The Board has reaffirmed the dividend at $0.0675 and remains focused on delivering sustainable earnings growth and long-term shareholder value. Based on current forecast, this dividend is expected to be around the top of Precinct's dividend policy range of 80% to 95% of funds from operations. Thank you. I will now hand over to George.

Thank you, Rich. Good morning, everyone. We've seen solid progress over the last year, with co-invested capital partnerships growing to $2 billion. The most pleasing aspect has been our partners' appetite for follow-on investment, with the GIC partnership acquiring ASB North Wharf and a new 50-50 JV with PAG to own the PwC Tower, which will be our third co-investment with them. As we focus on achieving scale in our partnership strategy, we have recently appointed Padraig Brown to lead capital partner origination. We will be looking to leverage the strong relationships that Paddy holds with real estate investors across Australia and New Zealand to support continued growth. Moving to Page 22. The capital partnership strategy is contributing real earnings growth for Precinct. While growth can be lumpy as we build towards scale, as shown in the chart on the left-hand side, the transactions achieved this year will have a meaningful earnings impact for FY '27 and going forward. Turning to Page 23. A reminder of the benefits underpinning our capital partnering strategy. First and foremost, the goal is to improve the return on equity for Precinct shareholders relative to investing 100% on balance sheet. Secondly, it provides greater flexibility as to how we fund opportunities, providing us with liquidity and ability to transact through the cycle. The benefits of this have been demonstrated over the last 3 years when we have had access to liquidity through a period when others have not. We remain committed to our capital partnering strategy and see it as highly complementary to our core investment and development strategies. Turning now to investment markets on Page 24. Overall, New Zealand real estate investment conditions are good. Debt funding costs are low. Occupier outlook is strong. The economic outlook is positive and the benefits of New Zealand tax savings relative to Australia are increasingly recognized by investors. However, investor return requirements have been elevated over the last 6 months, and our expectation is that higher return requirements will persist for some time. Capital is available, but with the backdrop of market volatility and the returns being promised from the AI build-out, higher levels of returns are being sought and core capital is still more difficult to come by. Our portfolio of assets and opportunities can deliver value in these conditions. However, it reinforces the need for us to add value through strong asset management and development execution rather than relying on an improvement in the investment market. Our track record of delivery and ability to add value is what capital partners are looking for and gives us confidence in the continued success of the strategy. Thank you. And I'll hand over to Anth to provide an update on the investment portfolio.

Thank you, George, and good morning, everyone. The investment portfolio has delivered a strong operating result, with occupancy maintained at 97% and WALTs extended to 7.1 years. This reflects the benefit of the recently completed development at Molesworth Street in Wellington, together with a significant level of leasing completed. A key feature of the year was the depth of leasing activity across the portfolio, with approximately 38,000 square meters of transactions completed. As Scott mentioned, this represented our strongest annualized leasing volume on record, driven by the management of a significant expiry profile and continued success in securing new occupier demand. This leasing demand demonstrates clear confidence in our locations and assets, and reflects the excellent work of our team in continuing to deliver for our clients, our occupiers. Our office portfolio remains around 3% under-rented relative to current market rents. During the year, rent reviews across office and retail delivered a 3.3% uplift on prior contract rents. New office leasing spreads overall were positive, achieving a 9.9% uplift. This being split between Auckland at 10.9% and 7.2% in Wellington. Turning to Page 27. The Auckland CBD office market conditions remain highly supportive with very low premium vacancy, sustained flight to quality and occupiers increasingly prioritizing well-connected, high amenity workplaces. We are seeing encouraging return to office momentum across Precinct's portfolio, alongside increased evidence of occupiers choosing to relocate back into the CBD from fringe locations. This recentralization trend reinforces the relative strength of premium CBD office and supports our long-held view that well-located, high-quality assets are best positioned to capture improving occupier demand as business confidence improves. We see this as a structural shift rather than a temporary trend, with further demand expected to flow into the CBD over time. Affordability is also an important factor. While market rents have moved, Auckland premium office remains affordable relative to broader business costs, supporting confidence in continued rental growth where vacancy is constrained. Page 28 highlights a positive market shift. We are observing workplace density stabilizing after a prolonged period of contraction. Over the last decade, many occupiers have reduced the amount of space they require per employee, driven by hybrid working, efficiency initiatives and broader office space reviews. We are now seeing evidence that this trend has stabilized. While AI may influence future employment growth, particularly in lower skilled and entry-level roles, stronger office utilization and stabilizing workplace density provide a more supportive backdrop for future net absorption. In the portfolio, a number of occupiers are now spatially constrained and are looking to grow their physical footprint. Encouragingly, leasing completed with our existing client base during the period has resulted in an 11% overall increase in the occupied footprint. Turning to Wellington CBD office. Market conditions remain more subdued than Auckland, largely reflecting the impact of central government expenditure settings and ongoing accommodation constraints. That said, the market remains highly segmented and demand continues to be strongest for high-quality functional and seismic resilient assets. While the broader market remains challenging, better quality stock is continuing to attract occupier demand, supported by limited new supply and a preference for assets that provide resilience, functionality and long-term certainty. Our expectation is that any further material government consolidation is expected to be more limited from here, which should support stability across the better quality part of the market. For Precinct, the focus remains on owning and managing well-located, high-quality Wellington assets that meet these occupier requirements. Looking across office markets, the outlook is becoming more constructive, particularly in Auckland premier office where demand remains strong, vacancy is low and occupiers continue to focus on quality. The key drivers are improving business confidence, limited new supply, the return of people to the office and the stabilization of workplace density. Together, these factors should support continued absorption and provide a stronger platform for rental growth over time. We expect growth across Precinct's portfolio to outperform market forecast in the medium term for Auckland. Wellington remains more subdued and segmented, reflecting the impact of government expenditure settings, but demand continues to favor high-quality functional and seismic resilient assets. With limited new supply, property level operating costs stabilizing, we expect better quality stock to remain supported while near-term rental growth is likely to be constrained. Commercial Bay retail continued to perform well through FY '26 despite softer consumer conditions. Moving annual turnover increased 5.6% to $167.6 million, supported by strong sales from new retailers, while FFO was moderately impacted by provisions relating to a small number of exiting hospitality retailers, reflecting broader industry conditions. The center remains highly attractive to premium international and leading local brands, with 43 lease transactions completed during the year and 9 new retailers welcomed. Several brands have selected Commercial Bay for their New Zealand flagship presence, reinforcing the strength of the Precinct and its ability to attract high-quality retailers. Trading metrics also remain resilient, with specialty sales increasing to $12,900 per square meter and occupancy cost ratio improving to 14.7%. This provides a more sustainable base for retailers and supports continued operating income growth over time. Thank you. And I'll now pass back to Scott.

Thanks, Anth. And turning to the development section. Page 33 provides an overview of Precinct's development pipeline, which now sits at $4 billion, including close to $1 billion that is currently under construction. A large part of the uncommitted pipeline is the commercial office component of Downtown, which remains a major focus for the business. Page 34 provides more information about imminent completions at York House and the office at 164 Beaumont Street, both being completed on behalf of capital partners as well as an overview of our entire development pipeline. One of the key benefactors for those undertaking developments in the current market is the competitive nature of construction pricing and contracting. We have now entered into 6 construction contracts over the past 2 years, all of which are fixed price contracts on a design-and-build basis. Turning to Page 35. Pleasingly, we have announced today that we are commencing construction at Pillars, located at 99 College Hill in Auckland. This is a boutique 20-unit apartment development, with pre-sales equating to 33% of total cost and incremental spend of $50 million. We are encouraged by the strength of demand in other projects, most specifically York House, which offers a similar specification and quality, albeit in a different location. With construction commencing shortly, this project is anticipated to complete in calendar year 2028. We have signed a design-build fixed price contract with GN Construction, who have recently completed Domain Collection in Newmarket and will bring the same team across to Pillars. Now, moving to an overview of the Downtown project on Page 36. Most significantly in the period, we are delighted to have received our Fast Track approval for the project, providing us with the resource consent we need to get started. Negotiations with occupiers remain ongoing, and we have around 50% of the office space under exclusivity, all of whom are not currently Precinct clients. We have entered into a comprehensive ECI program with Built, a Tier 1 main contractor out of Australia. And during the year, we have progressed our funding plan to enable a decision around committing to the Downtown project. Most importantly for today's announcement, we have also made the decision to stage the development, meaning that should we commit to the project in early 2027, we will do so on the basis of committing to the basement car parks, the public and retail spaces in laneways as well as the office component, which sits across 2 podiums and the large tower. This means we will complete the residential and hotel tower at a later date. This decision has not been taken lightly, but importantly reduces complexity, scope and scale of the project, providing Precinct with a lower risk profile that is more achievable. Consistent with best practice governance, we have now established a Board Subcommittee to support management as we progress the opportunity until such point as we make a decision. Page 37 sets out the detail of the composition of Stage 1, including the podiums and office tower. Most importantly, on completion, Stage 1 will present as a completed city block, with the Podium 2 building having the appropriate level of foundations and structure to enable the future construction of a tower above it. Page 38 provides an overview of the anticipated development program, with April 2027 being the earliest that the business will make a decision to proceed. This enables a 2032 completion date, meeting the needs of our current office occupiers under exclusivity. Importantly, on this page, we set out the expected returns of the project, which are net of any potential fee income, which will arise with the introduction of a capital partner. The project level returns provide for a yield on cost in the mid- to high 6s and a development margin north of 15%. Notably, the anticipated incremental spend is around $1.5 billion. Turning to Slide 39. The appointment of Built to an ECI program has been a key milestone in the period. Built sought a 12-month ECI time frame and have committed around 35 of their people for the 12-month duration. The key driver of the time frame is to provide pricing and program certainty to allow enough time to let sub-trades and to ensure sufficient opportunity to redesign parts of the project where desired. This level of ECI has been significant in unlocking cost initiatives and program benefits and ensures the appropriate balance of risk sharing between the contracting parties. Our expectation is that should we proceed, we will enter into a design-build fixed price contract with minimal provisional sums outstanding. The demand drivers for the Downtown development are set out on Page 40. As Anth has already covered, we are seeing continued demand for prime grade office space as employers attract their employees back to the office. The access of Auckland City has shifted, and there is continued and increasing demand for a waterfront location. These factors, coupled with a stabilization in density ratios bodes well for continued demand for such a premium and world-class office development. On Page 41, we set out the remaining major areas of focus prior to a prospective project commitment. We have identified 5 key criteria, including planning approval, office pre-leasing of greater than 40%, sufficient funding capacity consistent with our financial risk management policy and appropriately balanced construction contract alongside a set of returns, which reward the risks that Precinct may take on. Turning to our summary slide. I believe that Precinct is very well placed to take advantage of New Zealand's and in particular, Auckland's economic recovery. We now have a balance sheet with capacity to deploy and a market that is showing signs of growth. We have refined our strategic settings and are excited about the opportunities we have in front of us. Partner capital is available, but you need to create world-class real estate to attract it, and we feel well placed to continue to do that. Balancing all of these things, we are pleased to confirm that our dividend guidance for the next financial period will remain at $0.0675 per share, and we look forward to further advancing our business strategy. Thanks, everyone, for dialing in today, and we're very happy to take questions.

[Operator Instructions] Your first question comes from Nick Mar with Macquarie.

Just in terms of Downtown, I guess, the starting point, from your perspective, when is it realistic that you'd be able to look at securing a capital partner for it? And accordingly, how would you look at sort of getting the fee structures on that? And sort of how accretive do you think that should be to that sort of 6.5% to 7% yield on cost?

Nick, it's George here. Look, in terms of when we think we expect a capital partner to come on board, there's basically sort of 3 stages; pre-construction, during construction or on-completion. And we're obviously highly confident around the demand for premium office investment for completed buildings because we demonstrated that recently with PwC Tower and ASB. But we think pre-construction, the return requirements that capital partners would be looking for are at a level that probably will be difficult for us to make work for Precinct. And the level of the number of capital partners looking for investment at that stage is also less. We think the most likely stage is during construction when investors can see the development progressing. And we think we can meet the return requirements that they would be seeking through that period.

Okay. And in terms of like, fees, will you only start, I guess, accruing fees once you have that secured, so there won't be any kind of notional accrual during a sort of pre-capital partner period? And if that's the case, how come sort of the yield on cost isn't higher if you're sort of avoiding, I guess, what would otherwise be paid away as significant sort of external consultancy fees or development management fees if someone else is running a project like this?

Nick, it's Richard here. There will still be internal charges from the PPA outside of the business. So, that will be a charge that cost back to the project.

So, our total project cost as I indicated, includes an allowance for development management within that, Nick.

And at market rates?

At market rates, but stripping out the profit. So it's back to cost base.

Okay. And then in terms of the deferral of the sort of resi and hotel tower on that, it's obviously on top of the podium. Like do you have to defer that for pretty much 10 years? Or when do you think you can kind of reopen that sort of potential development?

Yes. I mean, there's obviously a few constraints. The decision we've made is to sort of focus in on Stage 1. The market at the moment for residential city center large-scale projects is not that supportive. So, I think the decision that we've made today is really about sort of balancing risk and reward for the business in terms of taking on the project. Sort of any decisions around when we might get underway with that second tower, first and foremost, you've got to wait for a market that's supportive. We are putting structure and foundation through the podium to support a tower in the future. There'll obviously be an occupier in that podium. So, that's a consideration as well. So yes, it's not in the short to near term, Nick. It's more likely in the mid- to long term that we get underway with that. But it's a terrific option that the business will always hold.

Have you accordingly costed the sort of full land value into the Stage 1 metrics then, sort of essentially assuming that you're not going to use that airspace anytime in the future?

Yes, that's right. Yes.

That's good. And then just elsewhere in the pipeline, can you just talk through the sort of strategy around sort of changing what you're targeting in resi and sort of scale of it and what that means for sites like Dova? I think Orams probably fits under that capital partner one, so it might still be able to go ahead despite the scale.

Yes. I think what we've learned over the last few years is appetite from buyers in this market, particularly at that downsizer end and particularly where you're sort of targeting premium kind of occupiers. They are more focused on sort of smaller boutique projects where they're not necessarily in a sort of a large-scale project. The Pillars is a really good example. I think York House is a good example. And so we're sort of very focused on that, and we feel like there's a really good pathway there. Projects like Dova, which was a bit more mid-market, that's a site that we're continuing to review and assess whether or not that fits our future strategy. As you know, we don't yet own that site. We have an option to acquire it, which is next year. And so we're working through that at the moment. In terms of Orams, we feel like there's a solution or there are several solutions there, most notably the opportunity to stage the development rather than complete it in a single stage. And there is also potential other uses for that site as well. So, we still hold a great deal of conviction around the Orams site and continue to be quite excited about that.

Your next question comes from Rohan Koreman-Smit in Forsyth Barr.