AMP NZ Office Trust announces higher net surplus, improved treasury positionMay 18, 2004 AMP NZ Office Trust (ANZO) has reported a 2.95 percent gain in net surplus to $26.3 million for the nine months to March 31, 2004, and has also announced improvements to its treasury position. Executive manager Robert Lang said ANZO’s rental income for the nine months was $36.5 million, an increase of 3.26 percent over the previous comparable period as a result of higher occupancy and rentals. ANZO also benefited from more favourable interest rates with the interest expenses 10.2 per cent lower than the previous comparable period. Mr Lang said ANZO has significantly improved its interest rate exposure and now has about 80 percent of its borrowings hedged with forward swaps for an average term of 5.4 years. This compares with ANZO’s previous position of about 60 percent hedged for 1.8 years. “ANZO entered into several swap agreements before the recent increase in interest rates and is now locked into some advantageous long-term low rates, reducing ANZO’s exposure to interest rate and earnings volatility” said Mr Lang. In line with projections, ANZO’s investors will receive a quarterly dividend of 1.75 cents per unit for the quarter. The record date is June 1 and the payment date is June 9. Mr Lang said ANZO remained on target for its forecast dividend of 7 cents per unit for the full-year to June 30. During the March quarter ANZO has also:
ANZO is a unit trust listed on the New Zealand Exchange, which invests predominantly in prime CBD office properties in major New Zealand cities. ANZO currently owns eight New Zealand office buildings with a total value of more than NZ$600 million – Auckland’s PricewaterhouseCoopers Tower, ANZ Centre, IAG House and Quay Tower; and Wellington’s HP Tower, 125 The Terrace, No. 1 and 3 The Terrace and Pastoral House. ANZO is managed by AMP Ronin Management Limited. *ANZO’s financial statements reflect a change in the Auckland City Council’s rates collection policy, which means that all building owners, rather than tenants as was previously the case, are now invoiced directly for municipal rates. This has had the effect of increasing the total direct operating expenses figure, and also recoverables as ANZO passes on these costs to its tenants. This change in policy was the main contributor to total revenue increasing by 9.7 per cent to $48.8 million and direct office property expenses increasing by 43.4 per cent to $13.4 million. This impact has been excluded from the figures above to enable an accurate year-on-year comparison. Media enquiries: |