Stockland announces steady Half Year profit while building development pipeline to 400 ILUs a year

The 63 village/8,416 unit Stockland retirement portfolio delivered a $16 million operating profit over the six months July to December 2014.

Across 26 weeks they sold 419 units; 289 were established units with an average sale price of $328,000, while 130 were new units were sold with an average sale price of $405,000.

Resale prices barely moved (2.5% increase) while new units increased in price by 5.8%. The average development margin was 15.8%. They enjoy 95% occupancy.

They currently have 450 units in development for delivery over the next 18 months. This would account for approximately 20% of all new development in the retirement village sector.

The $16 million profit equates to a return on their $700 million investment of 4.6%, representing no increase on 2014. Their stated ambition is to achieve 8% ROA by 2018.

63% of Stockland Village stock is over 20 years old. Stockland builds in a discount rate of 12.8% for its valuations.

10 days ago they quietly sold two villages to recycle capital. Their strategy to deliver co-located care to the villages is via their relationship with Opal; residential care facilities are in the early stages of development across several villages.