Consolidation works for National Property Trust

Thursday 5th February 2004

Investors with an eye for property shares will have noticed the recent up side to National Property Trust.

At their current price of 99c the shares are trading just above the company's net tangible asset value, having gained 33% over the past year.

The company has of course been operating in a buoyant property market but it is also now benefiting from its full acquisition of Newmarket Property Trust and the redeveloped Eastgate shopping centre.

However, while the Eastgate development has been a success, the company's Tauranga redevelopment is taking longer than expected and retail is now not expected to flow through until next year.

As a result sharebroker Macquarie Equities has reduced its long-term recommendation to market perform from outperform.

Christchurch-based National Property Trust last week posted a net profit after tax of $3.2 million for the six months to November 30, a 70% improvement on the same period a year earlier.

The trust's total income over the period increased by 68% to $8.94 million from $5.32 million the previous corresponding period.

The Eastgate revamp had a major effect on the value of the National Property Trust portfolio, which rose from $116 million in 2002 to over $200 million this year, in contrast to the $27 million portfolio it had when it listed in 1996.

The trust's portfolio also includes commercial properties (38%, industrial (4%), as well as retail (58%).

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