News & Updates

Goodman Property Trust wants to raise $275 million to acquire a 50% shareholding in Highbrook Development Ltd (HDL).

HDL owns the Highbrook Business Park under development in Manukau, just off State Highway 1.

A new motorway interchange was opened for the 150 hectare park in April.

When complete, Highbrook is expected to offer 535,000 square metres of floor area with 9000 to 12,000 people working there. Companies already on-site include DHL New Zealand, McPherson's Consumer Products, NZ Post, BMW New Zealand, Cottonsoft and Big Chill.

Goodman is targeting yields in the range of 8% to 8.5% on future HDL developments.

After a trading halt on the NZX, Goodman announced a conditional acquisition of a 50% shareholding in HDL on Monday.

The purchase price is estimated to be $97.29 million, payable in cash. The acquisition is expected to be settled in January 2008.

Capital will be raised via an 1-for- 8 entitlement offer, public offer and institutional placement. The offer price will be determined by bookbuild, with an indicative range of $1.43 to $1.49 per unit.

The acquisition is expected to add 2% to Goodman's projected cash distribution for 2009, representing 5.1% growth from 2008. The property management company also hopes to see growth and improved yield from Highbrook.
The capital raising should help drop Goodman's borrowings from 37.7% to 31.4% of total assets and provide an additional $225 million of debt capacity for further investment and development.

Goodman revealed an after-tax profit of $28.7 million for the six months ended September 30, in its first result under NZ IFRS reporting standards.

The result is a 42.7% increase on the $20.1 million profit (adjusted for New Zealand IFRS) for the same time last year.
With earnings in line with projections, a dividend of 10.6c per unit (9.8c cash and 0.8c imputation credits) is forecast.
In the first half, Goodman acquired a 50% share of Henshaw Holdings Ltd, which owns Show Place Office Park in Christchurch, for $30 million, and acquired a 75% interest in Stage 3 of the DHL facility at Highbrook Business Park for $10.1 million.