Charter Hall Group $29.9m up 52.6% 1H2013

Property Management and Investment company Charter Hall Group (ASX:CHC) have announced its half year financial results for 2013 to its shareholders and investors on the Australian stockmarket.

• Charter Hall Group Net Profit of $29.9 million up 52.6 percent on the prior corresponding period.
• Charter Hall total revenue up 15.2 percent to $81.1 million.
• Charter Hall Funds Under Management (FUM) is up 12 percent to $10 billion.
• Charter Hall joint managing director David Harrison said, "Our strategic focus on accessing, deploying and managing equity invested in core Australian real estate has strengthened our business, delivering improved quality of earnings."
• Charter Hall joint managing director David Southon said, "We continue to see growing investor interest in Australian property, with domestic and offshore pension funds increasing their allocation to property from other asset classes. In addition, this year has also seen a large increase in the Australian superannuation sector, with SMSF (self-managed super fund) and retail investors also seeking alternative sources of income due to falling term-deposit interest rates"
• Charter Hall Group derives 60 percent of its revenue from its property investments – it has ownership stakes in Charter Hall Office and the publicly listed Charter Hall Retail fund. The company also has wholesale funds which include the Charter Hall Office Core-Plus fund. 40 percent of their income is derived from the $10 billion in FUM.
• The company recently joined with two institutional investors to create a new vehicle, the Core Logistics Partnership (CLP), which will acquire and manage core Australian logistics properties.
• Core Logistics Partnership (CLP) has acquired two assets: a logistics facility in Melbourne, from Amcor Ltd on a 10-year sale and leaseback deal for $39.6 million and the second was 50 percent of a Metcash Distribution Centre at Canning Vale, Perth which was purchased for $63.5 million from the Australian Unity Diversified Property Fund..
• Also, recently Charter Hall Group's $1.7 billion Core Plus Office Fund acquired the 35 storey building on 9 Castlereagh Street, Sydney building for $172.5 million. The property is expected to yield 8 percent from $15.1 million in rental income on a fully leased basis.
• Charter Hall Group has declared an interim dividend of 9.8 cents per share.