On how to do this at that time. I would now like to hand the call over to the Managing Director of BWP, Mr. Mark Scatena. Please go ahead.
Thank you. Good morning, everyone. Thanks so much for joining us. We appreciate that many of you have had a really busy morning, particularly given the volume of reporting, so thank you for joining. My name's Mark Scatena. I'm the Managing Director of BWP Group, and I'm joining you from Perth. With me today is Andrew Ross, BWP's Head of Property, and David Hawkins, BWP's Chief Financial Officer. Today, we're very pleased to announce BWP's results for the full year ending 30 June 2026. Turning to slide two. To commence today, we acknowledge the traditional owners of country throughout Australia and their continuing connection to lands and waterways upon which we depend. We pay our respects to their elders, past and present. Turning to slide four, and the FY 2026 overview.
The year was an important one for BWP, with delivery across a number of key reset activities that have strengthened income security and provided a platform for income and capital growth over the long term. During the year, BWP completed the internalization transaction and continued to advance the transition to an internalized model, which included 62 Bunnings leases being reset and extended, store expansion CapEx for Bunnings portfolio of AUD 56 million of development capital, and Bunnings store upgrade support, with BWP committed to funding AUD 15 million of network upgrades. Operationally, during the year, large format retail, or LFR, made an increased contribution with positive leasing spreads achieved, portfolio renewal was completed through divestment activity, and major repurposing projects were advanced. Turning to slide five, and an overview of financial and capital management.
The result for the 2026 financial year reflects earnings growth supported by rental growth, positive LFR leasing outcomes, lower costs of doing business post-internalization, portfolio valuation growth, including the benefits of an increased weighted average lease expiry post the internalization and lease reset, and a balance sheet reset to support BWP's development and growth pipeline. Funds from operations, or FFO, were AUD 140.9 million, up 4.5% on FY 2025, supported by a lower management expense ratio reflecting the benefits of the internalized management structure, reduced to 0.34% from 0.66% in FY 2025, and increased rental income, which more than offset an increase in borrowing costs. BWP's portfolio value increased AUD 257 million during the year, with a weighted average capitalization rate firming 15 basis points to 5.25%.
NTA increased 3.3%, or AUD 0.13, to AUD 4.11 per security at 30 June 2026. The balance sheet reset was also an important focus during the year. This included the AUD 300 million five-year bond issuance completed in October 2025 and the AUD 228 million fully underwritten entitlement offer completed in May 2026. These reset activities have strengthened financial flexibility and provided capacity to fund BWP's development and growth pipeline. Gearing at 30 June 2026 was 18.5%, compared with 21.6% at 30 June 2025. Turning to slide six, and operational execution. Income security was strengthened through the Bunnings lease reset and extension, with portfolio occupancy remaining very high and portfolio WALE increasing to 7.3 years.
Income growth was supported by like-for-like rental growth of 3%, positive LFR leasing spread outcomes, and the addition of Home Centre Morayfield during the year. Portfolio renewal continued, with the completed divestments of Chadstone, Port Kennedy, and Morley generating cumulative gross proceeds 18.6% above pre-divestment valuations. Major repurposing and development activity also continued across portfolio assets, including Fountain Gate, Noarlunga, Midland, and Broadmeadows, with the completion of these projects expected in FY 2027. Turning now to slides eight through 10. Slide eight details BWP's refreshed strategy, and how the group aims to deliver returns to security holders to execute its objective of providing security holders with a secure and growing income stream and capital growth over the long term.
Slide nine illustrates the important reset period of reset across calendar years 2024 to 2026, and the activities completed to improve recurrent income, secure the Bunnings covenant, lower the cost structure, improve alignment with security holders, and reset the balance sheet to enable a platform for growth. As shown on slide 10, this reset period has been characterized by portfolio growth, increased net asset backing, growth capital expenditure deployment, and increased contribution from LFR, reduced balance sheet leverage, and growth in both FFO and distributions. Turning to slide 12 and tenant income mix and lease expiry. BWP's covenant mix remains strong, with approximately 96% of income derived from Wesfarmers and National Retailers. The Bunnings lease reset has materially extended portfolio WALE to 7.3 years.
Occupancy was 98.4% at 30 June 2026, with the decrease largely reflecting assets being redeveloped, including Fountain Gate and Noarlunga. Importantly, non-development assets were 100% occupied. Turning to slide 13, and rental income growth and tenant composition. Like-for-like rental growth for the year was 3.0%, reflecting the balanced structure of the lease portfolio with income reviewed across CPI-linked leases, fixed reviews, and market rent reviews. For FY 2026, CPI reviews applied to 43% of the portfolio income and delivered an average increase of 3.1% across all leases. Fixed reviews applied to 52% of portfolio income and delivered an average increase of 3.0%. Market rent reviews apply to 5% of the portfolio income, with an average increase of 1.8% across all leases.
The large format retail component is an increasingly important contributor to portfolio rent, with LFR market rent reviews for lease options commencing in the financial year resolved in an average increase of 9.3%. In relation to Bunnings, four market rent reviews were finalized during the year, with a variance to passing rent negative of 0.7%. Mile End in South Australia remains the outstanding market rent review post the lease reset and is currently in determination. Turning to slide 14, and large format retail leasing outcomes. LFR leasing outcomes were strong during the year, with leasing spreads across the 14 LFR tenancy negotiations completed during the year, averaging an increase of 23.6%. These positive results reflect the quality of the respective locations, current market conditions, and the strength of tenant demand for LFR space. Importantly, these leasing outcomes were achieved with minimal incentives, with LFR renewal incentives remaining low.
The LFR market remains characterized by favorable fundamentals, including strong population growth and undersupply of lettable space, and continued tenant demand from national retailers, and provides a favorable backdrop for further leasing activity in the near term. As previously discussed, LFR affords BWP an attractive pathway for income growth, including the completion of repurposing activities of former Bunnings Warehouse properties, expanding lettable area on surplus land, or acquiring assets that complement the existing portfolio. Turning to slide 15, and capitalization rate movements. The portfolio weighted average capitalization rate at 30 June 2026 was 5.25%, representing a 2 basis point compression over the half and a 15 basis point compression over the 12 months to 30 June 2026. These movements reflect the longer portfolio WALE following the Bunnings lease reset, firmer market capitalization rates from market transaction activity, and value creation through asset repurposing advanced across the portfolio.
At 30 June 2026, the 80 portfolio properties were valued at approximately AUD 4 billion, with 12 independent valuations completed in the second half and 16 independent valuations completed in the first half. The portfolio recorded a net fair value gain of AUD 115.6 million for the second half and AUD 371.4 million for the full 12 months. The standalone Bunnings Warehouse cap rate was 4.96%, compared with 5.06% at 30 June 2025. Market transaction activity over the last 12 months also reflected continued investor appetite for Bunnings Warehouses. Turning to slide 16, and the portfolio valuation uplift. The portfolio value increased to AUD 3,961.8 million at 30 June 2026, which was AUD 257 million above 30 June 2025. The uplift was largely driven by a combination of accretive development activity, increased income, and capitalization rate compression, partly offset by net divestment activity.
Importantly, on an estimate at completion basis and net of book value and development costs, the contributions from Fountain Gate, Noarlunga, and Midland during the year were AUD 28.1 million, AUD 18.1 million, and AUD 2.9 million, respectively, demonstrating value creation and long-term portfolio growth through BWP's repurposing activities. Turning to slide 17, and the pipeline of accretive capital commitments. BWP has a pipeline of approximately AUD 120 million of upcoming capital commitments to be deployed across the portfolio, comprising asset repurposing, Bunnings expansions, and portfolio upgrades. Specific to supporting the store network improvements of our largest tenant, Bunnings, at Pakenham in Victoria, around AUD 8 million remains to be funded, with surplus land acquired for AUD 3.2 million and construction commenced in April 2026. This capital will be rentalized at 6.5% with a new 10-year lease on completion, which is expected in March 2027.
For the Bunnings expansions included within the lease reset and internalization transaction, Maitland and Balcatta expansions are expected to commence during FY 2027, subject to relevant approvals and documentation. Maitland is expected to commence in early 2027 with a 15-month program, and Balcatta is expected to commence in mid-2027 with a 12-month program. Both will be rentalized at a five-year swap + 200 basis points. Turning to slide 18, and the development project update. These important projects reflect the value creation opportunity from repurposing former Bunnings Warehouses into LFR centres and expanding lettable area on surplus land. At Fountain Gate, we have expanded to an LFR centre of 14,089 sq m with a project 100% pre-leased to tenants including BCF, Rebel, Supercheap Auto, Macpac, Officeworks, Planet Fitness, Red Cross, and Grill'd. Fountain Gate's estimated fully leased post-development valuation is approximately AUD 94 million, and the estimated yield on development spend is approximately 15%.
At Noarlunga, this LFR centre of 11,357 sq m is 78% pre-leased to The Good Guys, BCF, Freedom, and Planet Fitness. The estimated fully leased post-development valuation is approximately AUD 57 million, and the estimated yield on development spend is approximately 12%. Across these projects, including Broadmeadows and Midland, the returns remain attractive and demonstrate BWP's ability to create value through active portfolio management, repurposing capability, and disciplined capital allocation. Turning to slide 19, and portfolio renewal. BWP continued to renew the portfolio following a valuation of the highest and best use of individual assets, with evaluations including the consideration of development, repurposing, and divestment options and outcomes. During FY 2026, three divestments were completed. Chadstone Homeplus Homemaker Centre in Victoria was sold in June 2026 to an unrelated third party for AUD 86 million.
The realized internal rate of return of 15.2% demonstrates the value creation above the original purchase price of AUD 72.5 million via the NPR acquisition in 2024. Morley in Western Australia was sold on the 1st of December 2025 to an unrelated third party for AUD 19.5 million. AUD 12.5 million above the 30 June 2025 fair value, with the investment realizing internal rate of return of 10.2%. Port Kennedy in Western Australia was sold on the 23rd of January 2026 to an unrelated third party for AUD 14.3 million, which compares to the 30 June 2025 fair value of AUD 10 million. The realized internal rate of return was 5.8%. Looking ahead, Bunnings has confirmed its exit from the Geraldton site, with BWP evaluating a potential divestment during FY 2027.
Turning to slide 20, and LFR acquisitions supporting income growth. The acquisitions of HomeCentre Morayfield and Sunbury Lifestyle Centre reflect the addressable market opportunity in large format retail. It is a material market with strong rates of asset churn or transaction activity and an undersupply of lettable area. HomeCentre Morayfield in Queensland was acquired in November 2025 from an unrelated third party. The purchase price was AUD 48 million plus costs, representing a cap rate of 5.75%. The Centre has 12,086 sq m of lettable area and is 100% leased to tenants including Amart, Nick Scali, Supercheap Auto, Salvation Army, Pillow Talk, and Sydney Tools. HomeCentre Morayfield is expected to benefit from income growth prospects over time and the identification of incremental income opportunities that optimize asset performance and site utilization.
Sunbury Lifestyle Centre in Victoria was acquired in August 2026 from an unrelated third party at a purchase price of AUD 25.2 million plus costs, representing a cap rate of 6%. The Centre has 5,554 sq m of lettable area and is 100% leased, including The Good Guys, Repco, Total Tools, and Petstock. Our focus for Sunbury will be on near-term income growth and tenant mix opportunities. These acquisitions are consistent with BWP's disciplined approach to growth. They complement the existing portfolio of Bunnings warehouses and LFR assets and provide exposure to income growth opportunities over time. Turning to slide 12, and sustainability—t urning to slide 21, and sustainability. BWP's sustainability focus during FY 2026 included preparation for mandatory climate-related disclosures from FY 2027, and progressing practical decarbonization initiatives across our portfolio.
Gross Scope 2 market-based emissions reduced by 19.6% from 148 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent in FY 2025 to 119 tonnes in FY 2026. BWP achieved a net Scope 2 market-based emissions position of zero through the surrender of 149 Australian carbon credit units. Estimated emissions avoided through on-site solar generation increased by 19.2% from 1,381 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent in FY 2025 to 1,645 tonnes in FY 2026. Solar power installations are now in place at 69% of sites owned at 30 June 2026, compared with 61% in FY 2025. Rainwater recycling is in place at 90% of all sites, compared with 89% in FY 2025.
LED lighting has been installed at 100% of sites in at least one car park, nursery trading area, canopy trading area, or the main store. The focus remains on practical initiatives that are relevant to BWP's portfolio, while continuing to prepare for the commencement of mandatory climate-related reporting. Turning to slide 22, and capital management. Average borrowings for the period were AUD 940.7 million, up 17.6% on the prior corresponding period, largely due to debt drawn to fund the management internalization. The weighted average cost of debt for FY 2026 was 4.6%, compared with 4.4% in FY 2025, and borrowing costs for the period were AUD 42.7 million, up 22.0%. At 30 June 2026, BWP had an A- stable rating from S&P and an A3 stable rating from Moody's.
Hedging cover was 59.3%, with a weighted average rate of 4.01% including margins, and a weighted average term to maturity of 3.5 years for these hedging instruments. Interest cover was 4.2 times compared with 4.8 times in FY 2025, and gearing was lower at 18.5% compared with 21.6% in FY 2025. Debt covenants remain well covered. Current available debt capacity is approximately AUD 450 million. The balance sheet reset has included both debt diversification and equity raising activities, comprising a AUD 300 million fixed bond completed in October 2025 at a fixed rate of 4.55%, and also the AUD 328 million fully underwritten entitlement offer completed in May 2026, both of which increased capacity to fund BWP's development and growth pipeline.
Turning to slide 24, and the FY 2027 outlook. Operational execution remains a key focus. In FY 2027, BWP will seek further positive leasing spread outcomes within the LFR portfolio, continue to focus on optimizing the cost of capital and further advance the operational elements of the management internalization, including information technology and human resources. In FY 2027, leases subject to market rent review represent only 4% of base rent, with CPI reviews to apply to approximately 45% of base rent and the balance of 51% to be reviewed to fixed increases of 2%-4%. Effective capital deployment remains a key focus, including the completion of the repurposing projects at Fountain Gate and Noarlunga, expansion projects at Midland and Broadmeadows, and progressing expansions to support Bunnings at Pakenham, Maitland and Balcatta.
BWP will also continue to seek acquisitions that complement the portfolio, including Bunnings warehouses and LFR assets. Elevated levels of capital expenditure are expected to continue in FY 2027, reflecting the significant repurposing and expansion activity, with capital expenditure expected to be between AUD 55 million and AUD 65 million, excluding divestment proceeds. BWP provides distribution guidance for FY 2027 of 20.00 cents per security, representing approximately 3% growth on FY 2026. FFO in FY 2027 will be improved by like-to-like rental growth, leasing spreads, contributions from repurposing activities and acquisitions, and reduced interest expense post the May 2026 equity raising. This improvement will be moderated by reduced income from recent property divestments. The FFO guidance reflects an expected payout ratio of approximately 104% of FFO, within BWP's target distribution payout ratio of 90%-110% of FFO.
Distributions are expected to utilize recent profits on sale of investment properties to offset reductions in rent resulting from recent divestments, with approximately AUD 57 million of capital profits on sale recorded over the three years to 30 June 2026. As always, guidance is subject to no major disruption to the Australian economy or material change in market conditions. Overall, FY 2027 will see BWP leverage the reset of recent years, focusing on the completion of major repurposing projects, progressing Bunnings expansions, leveraging the lower cost structure post-internalization, and maintaining balance sheet flexibility to support future growth. That concludes my prepared remarks. I will now hand back to the moderator to facilitate any questions for Andrew, David, and I are available. Thank you.
Thank you. If you would wish to ask a question, please press star one on your telephone and wait for your name to be announced. If you wish to cancel your request, please press star two. If you are on a speakerphone, please pick up the handset to ask your question. Your first question comes from Cody Shield from UBS. Please go ahead.
Good morning, Mark, David, and Andrew. Thanks for the time. Just first question on Noarlunga. So 78% pre-leased there, unchanged from the half. How are conversations going on that one? Is that on track to be fully leased by completion?
Yes, it is. We're in very advanced negotiations for the last remaining tenancy. The 22% is actually only one single tenancy of about 2,000 sq m.
Okay. Got it. Just on development projects more broadly, it's been a good story for the business. You do have a number of those completing through 2027, though. How are you thinking about additional opportunities across the book into the medium term? Is there a run rate that you'd like to hit there?
Thanks, Cody. Yes, we do like these projects. As we've demonstrated, they are good deployments of capital. We don't have as many of those moving forward as you'd expect post the lease reset. So we do have some assets that we're currently expanding. Broadmeadows, of course, we've called out, post an acquisition of adjacent land. Northland is an asset that we have. It's vacant at the moment, going through planning processes as it relates to that asset. So we're very focused on that. That probably is a more medium-term opportunity, Cody. Of course, deploying capital into Bunnings expansions, and supporting its network expansion and optimization is a really strong focus. Of course, we called out Pakenham, Maitland, Balcatta as three key projects that we're very much focused on.
We hope over time, if we can be a good capital provider for those prospects, that in time we can do more of those with Bunnings.
Got it. Then maybe just the last one on the hedging level. If look a little bit further out, I mean, your hedging's a touch light. Are you kind of taking a view on the rate trajectory there, or happy to be a little bit under-hedged? How are you thinking about that?
Do you want to take that one, Dave?
Yeah, sorry, w e revisit our hedging at every board meeting. We're looking at things on a regular basis. Our aim is probably to turn some of our bank debt into MTNs, and we'll probably look at doing future MTNs as part of our hedging strategy.
Okay, got it. Thanks, guys.
Thank you. Your next question comes from Howard Penny from Citi. Please go ahead.
Thank you, and congrats on the results. It is a similar question just on acquisitions. I see that on the acquisition front, you have been more active on the LFR side, but if I look at the cap rates that you are buying at, they are 5.75% and 6%, which is broadly in line with some of the deals in Bunnings warehouses recently. My main question is, what differentiates those LFR acquisitions from what you could have alternatively bought just in traditional Bunnings assets in the market?
Thanks, Howard. I will just talk to LFR first. Yes, I think we have communicated most certainly the half in some of the addressable market context we gave, that we like the LFR market. I think the two examples, the two acquisitions, Morayfield and Sunbury, we have called out that we think over time there is curation, there are leasing spread opportunities. That income growth that sits in, I suppose, that acquired portfolio is strong and would be stronger relative to a Bunnings asset, for example, where we understand the lease structures that sit, and the income growth that sits within that. We are very comfortable with the purchasing of those assets. We most certainly are active in regards to due diligence as it relates to other LFR assets across the country.
We are hopeful over time that we can convert some of those opportunities, assuming pricing is appropriate and we can get the incremental return rate that we desire. As it relates to Bunnings, we seldom see Bunnings transacted, I think, Howard, at a comparable rate to perhaps the two examples that we have acquired in Sunbury and obviously Morayfield. That blended rate between 5.75% and 6%, I think you will see, Howard, on our slide 15. I think you can see there where transactions have been and Bunnings standalone cap rates. I think, if you just take an average really over the last two years, it is a number closer to 5%, Howard. So good metropolitan Bunnings, highly desirable, highly sought after. We have spoken at length that it is competitive in regards to different sources of capital for those Bunnings assets.
I think there is still very much a differential between LFR and Bunnings standalone warehouse cap rates.
Thank you. Just my second question. Post the capital raise, a lot of the discussion in the market was around what BWP is going to do with the capital and what are the likely potential acquisitions, et cetera. I can see, of course, the capital commitments are part of that as well as the acquisitions, but the gearing is still very low. So, can we expect a lot more activity, and maybe some bigger deals potentially happening in the future?
Obviously, Howard, if you think about how we guided during the communication in May, at the time of the raising. We guided that on a pro forma basis post essentially at the time, both underway, commenced and planned activities, that we would see gearing sitting just above 20% if we deployed that AUD 163 million of capital. I think we have given an update in this pack that we have got AUD 120 million of that to continue to spend, not deployed. So we still see post that expansion activity, that repurposing activity and some of that upgrade work, that we will be sitting in the low end of the range, Howard, and anything over and above inorganically, for example, Sunbury, would send us a little higher into the range.
Difficulty to guide, of course, on inorganic activity, Howard, but post the expansion deployment of capital, we'll be sitting at the low end, all things being equal, and anything inorganically would set that perhaps higher, depending, of course, how we fund it, Howard.
Thank you very much, and congrats once again.
Thank you. Your next question comes from Simon Chan from Morgan Stanley. Please go ahead.
Good day, guys. Hope you're well. Mark, just wanted to get some comments from you on LFR. The leasing spreads there were obviously very good. I really just have two questions. One, are there some funnies in there which has inflated the numbers? And two, can you talk a bit about the WALE of your LFR portfolio? I'm just interested to see if there's some upside in the near term, if similar leasing spreads can be crystallized over the next year or two.
Thanks, Simon. LFR, yes. I think the way to answer the 23% is every asset, every location within an asset has its own characteristics. I think that cohort of those 14 negotiations that we called out, I think had some favorable elements, so I wouldn't be assuming that that is run rate. I think we said that for those LFR leases that would commence in 2026, the subset of that they were about just north of 9%. We are confident, and I think we said this at the time, Simon, of one confidence that we absolutely have, and Andrew and the team have evolved over many years, is understanding a market rent review lease reset negotiation.
I think we might have said during the internalization discussions with many on the call that we would hope to deploy some of that capability into the LFR part of the portfolio. Hopefully that rate of spread reflects some of that capability. 23% is a strong outcome, but again, I think every asset is very different. Every asset has its own relativities. I'll let Andrew perhaps comment on the WALE or anything else in regards to expected spreads.
Yeah. Simon, we're about 20%-25% through this program of going through the LFR portfolio and negotiating either at lease renewal or midterm market rent reviews. Most of them are lease renewal and/or options. It is a strong result, and as Mark said, it's site specific, and I've always said this about Bunnings Warehouse market rent reviews as well. What I would say is there's definitely been a step change in the market rental across Australia for large format retail, and it's been a function of the cost through COVID, to develop new supply, where tenants have had to pay higher rentals for developers and owners like ourselves to develop new product. Moving forward, I envisage it will be. I'm definitely forecasting well more than CPI increases across our existing portfolio.
Our current WALE on the LFR portfolio is about 6.5 years. We see opportunity in FY 2027 and FY 2028 to get some good rent reversion from those leasing spreads and at minimal incentives. I think it's important to call out the 0.6% of 1% in terms of incentives for the existing portfolio. You've got to look at both of them hand in hand.
I assume the 0.6% is a little bit assisted by, they are all renewals rather than new leases. Would that be fair, Andrew?
Absolutely. They are. Well, no, they are existing properties, so those incentives do not include the developments at Fountain Gate and Noarlunga. They sit just under 2%, but they are not like for like existing portfolio incentives.
Yeah, that is fair. That is all I have got this morning, guys. Thanks, mate. See you soon. Cheers.
Thanks, Simon.
Thank you. Your next question comes from Richard Jones from JPMorgan. Please go ahead.
Oh, good afternoon, it's now. Mark, just interested in your FY 2027 guidance. You've got dividend growth of 3%. The payout ratio looks like it's going from 100% to 104%. So, it implies the FFO is not moving. Just wondering if you can just talk us through the main moving parts—
Yeah. Thanks, Richard.
—in your implied guidance.
Yeah. Sorry, Richard. Yes. I think the best way of probably framing this, and this is to some degree why when we gave guidance on payout in the last 12 months, we gave that range between 90% and 110% at that time, for example. We had repurposing activity, and we had likely divestment activity. I think if you essentially add back the lost income from divestments in 2027, of which Chadstone is a very significant contributor there, you broadly would arrive at a normalized kind of FFO in line with distributions. So, I would simply guide that some lost income is a headwind to FFO in 2027.
Okay. And so just moving forward, when would you anticipate FFO and DPS will align?
Yeah. Again, probably difficult to give guidance beyond, but we expect unit FFO growth in FY 2028.
Okay. The MER at 34 points annualized, is that a stabilized number?
It's rude to say it here. It's likely to be by around 36 basis points going forward. There's some additional costs this year regards to having AGMs, REM reports, and adding a couple additional team members with incentives as well.
Thank you, David. Just in terms of portfolio movements, you're flagging Geraldton as a potential divestment. Are there other assets and balancing that, do you think you'd be a net buyer in 2027 or is it just a CapEx offsetting the sales essentially?
Yeah, Richard, I mean, we flagged Geraldton, clearly we've called that out. So that will be a process we'll complete and review. We don't have, clearly in the near term pipeline, any other divestments at this point that we would flag. Yes, anything inorganic in terms of accretive investments would perhaps offset that divestment.
Okay. Thanks, Mark. That's all from me.
No probs.
Thank you. Your next question comes from Tom Bodor from Jarden. Please go ahead.
Good morning, Mark, Andrew, David. Just one from me. You have got a payout range in that sort of 90%-110% range. Where do you see that settling long term once we get through all these sort of moving parts around divestments and repurposing?
Yeah, Tom. I suppose, we have given the range, and it is something we will operate within, of course. The guidance we give is guidance ahead 12 months. But we would hope over time, Tom, that we are in the midpoint, towards the midpoint of that range, of course.
Okay, there is no intention to hold back any FFO through cycle to cover maintenance and leasing CapEx?
No, no.
Okay, thanks.
Thank you. Your next question comes from Callum Bramah from Macquarie. Please go ahead.
Morning. I just had a couple of questions. I was just looking at slide 27, which talks to the contracted rent escalations. I just wondered, looking at 27, you have the 4% expiries that you flagged, or not expiries, those that are exposed to market reviews. Are you able to just give me an idea of what your expectations are there or things we need to be thinking about on that? And where is that number when we look into 2028 and 2029?
Yeah, sure. Well, obviously that 4% is pretty much just the LFR component of the portfolio, given we have done the lease reset for all the Bunnings warehouses. The first lease expiry, excluding Geraldton, of course, is another four or five years away. So FY 2028 is fairly consistent with that 4% of the total portfolio, and you will actually find over the next four years it is about the same each year. So 4%-5% maximum.
Okay. I think going to Simon's question earlier, is the LFR market reviews that you achieved this period indicative of what we should expect or that is unusually high?
Look, I do not think you should expect 23% across the rest of the portfolio. As I kind of said to Simon, we are forecasting well north of CPI, and that is because we have actually seen a marked change in the market rents across our entire portfolio. So, it's not site specific or state specific to Queensland or New South Wales, it is across the board.
Okay. Maybe just a couple of other ones . The CapEx, I think this year, AUD 55 million-AUD 65 million, is that what we should expect on a go forward rough run rate and the kind of yield on cost that you would expect to achieve on that CapEx spend?
Dave, do you want me to take that or?
This year, FY 2027 is probably higher going forward. You will only have the Bunnings upgrades and redevelopments, and then staying business CapEx, which we do not get a return on. Obviously, it probably range between AUD 8 million- AUD 13 million going forward a year.
Okay. Then-
Callum, in regards to yield on incremental cost, I think we have guided pretty strongly on slide 18 to that project spend portfolio. I think if you then take Bunnings expansions, we have called out the five-year swap + 200 basis points. So that gives you a good guide to the yield on that cost. I would probably use those two elements to forecast that.
Yeah, perfect. Thank you. On weighted average cost of debt, I just wondered what your expectation was of where that is going in 2027. I think it was 4.6% in 2026. While you are talking about that cost of debt, you alluded to, I think, maybe what form of debt you are going to seek when you have the refinancings come up in 2028- 2029. Is there maybe margin saving opportunities, and where you see your spot cost of debt?
Yeah. We are forecasting based on the current swap rate of 4.8%. Our cost of debt for the year FY 2027 is likely to be in between about 5% to about 5.3%, subject to obviously any RBA decisions and movements in swap rates. In margin compression, we have always very tightly priced our margins. So, there is not a large amount of wiggle room that we can see at the moment. If you take, for instance, our October 2025 issue, we issued a five-year bond at 105 basis points, and I think that is relative to where the market is at the moment.
Yeah, fantastic. Thank you so much for the color. Appreciate it.
Thank you. Once again, to ask a question, please press star one. Your next question comes from Claire McKew from Green Street. Please go ahead.
Hi, team. Just to follow up on the dividend question. I am just curious, obviously the payout ratio is around 104% of FFO, but then if we overlay your CapEx, TI is obviously pretty modest, but then there is also some recurring maintenance CapEx that will naturally come through. I am just thinking about what is the reluctance to reset your dividend, especially when your dividend yield is like a low 5%, your marginal debt cost is higher. Shareholders are now funding a dividend with debt at a higher cost, which is in theory, all else equal dilutive. I am just wondering what is the reluctance to just reset it a bit lower and to bring in that recurring CapEx profile into the equation.
Thanks, Claire. Look, I think as I responded to Tom, we have an intent here to have a payout ratio range to accommodate some portfolio change as much as anything. That repurposing activity will contribute to that this year. Clearly, we have some divestment cycling that is also a headwind in 2027. As I mentioned to Tom, we expect FFO growth on a unit basis, and clearly the contributions from repurposing will manifest more fully through 2027 into 2028. Yeah, Claire, I suppose we think about this over the medium term, and we do not really have any intent to reset the payout ratio. As I said, we have a guide. Of course, we would aim over time to ensure that the dividend is covered with free funds.
Okay. Just on the CapEx question, I know you do not disclose AFFO, but what sort of a run rate on TIs that you give a bit of color on, but just what sort of a run rate are you spending on recurring structural CapEx? Things like, obviously your lease is a net lease, but it is not everything. On some of the structural repairs that you still have ownership of, what sort of a run rate is that at? I think it was AUD 4 or—
Yeah.
—AUD 5 million or so.
Dave, do you want to take that one or? Claire, I'll take that. Claire, yes, we would say within that CapEx range that we'd be spending somewhere between probably AUD 10 million to AUD 20 million and probably around AUD 15 million on recurrent spend.
Yeah. Okay, thanks.
Thank you. There are no further questions at this time. I'll now hand back to Mark Scatena for any closing remarks.
Thank you very much, everyone. I appreciate everyone joining us. We look forward to speaking to you over the coming days, seeing many of you in the week of the 7th of September , and encourage anyone on the call who is in Perth to attend our first AGM for many, many years, on the 29th of October , which I think is a Thursday. We would be delighted to welcome you to the AGM. Have a lovely day. Thank you.
That does conclude our conference for today. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect.