I'd now like to hand the conference over to Mr. Jason Weate, Fund Manager. Please go ahead.
Thank you, and good morning, everyone joining on the call. I'm Jason Weate, Fund Manager of Dexus Convenience Retail REIT, and I'm pleased to be delivering the 2025 half-year result. I would like to begin today by acknowledging the traditional custodians of the lands and waterways on which we meet today, the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation, and pay our respects to elders past and present.
Today, I will touch on DXC's investment proposition, key highlights for the period, the financial outcomes, as well as trends we've seen in the broader market. Moving to slide five. DXC's investment proposition is to provide investors with defensive income with embedded growth through the cycle. We deliver this, firstly, by delivering portfolio metrics that deliver high income certainty and growth. Secondly, we maintain a prudent capital structure that has regard to shifts in the broader macroeconomic environment.
Thirdly, we take an active but disciplined approach to real estate portfolio management, including portfolio curation and asset recycling into strategic growth opportunities that may include industry exposure beyond fuel and convenience. Supporting us in executing these pillars is an aligned manager with Dexus. Turning to the highlights for the period, we delivered FFO of AUD 0.104 and distributions of AUD 0.103 per security and are on track to deliver our FY2025 guidance as our portfolio continues to deliver a resilient income stream backed by high-quality tenant governance.
We executed AUD 38.8 million of divestments, improving overall portfolio quality and providing capacity for future growth, as our gearing of 28.7% now sits at the lower end of our target gearing range. We commenced our fully pre-leased redevelopment of the northbound site at Glasshouse Mountains, which is expected to generate attractive returns above DXC's cost of capital.
Our NTA has stabilized this period, growing by 0.3% as a result of positive revaluations. The DXC portfolio reflects a high-yielding, valuable land bank, with the majority weighting to metro and highway locations. These sites will play a critical role in supporting transport and long-haul travel over the long term, with the domestic fuel-reliant vehicle fleet continuing to show positive growth. We are well placed to support tenants evolve their site offerings in line with the shifting energy mix, with over 85% of our portfolio zoned to commercial, industrial, residential, and mixed uses. We continue to explore broader alternate use and latent development opportunities for the medium to long term, whilst also looking to restock our development pipeline beyond Glasshouse Mountains.
Our income base is diverse and is backed by some of the highest quality tenant governance in the market, with 95% of income derived from a wide variety of experienced national and international operators, with a number of those operators having recently committed to long-term reinvestments of their networks, including material enhancement to the convenience retail offering. Turning to sustainability, our approach aligns to the Dexus sustainability strategy, which includes three priority areas being customer prosperity, climate action, and enhancing communities.
We continue to source 100% renewable electricity and maintain a carbon-neutral position across our controlled asset base. We also actively engage with tenants to support their varied ESG objectives and are in the final stages of discussions across five sites for the installation of solar and electric vehicle charging across an additional 22 bays in our network.
Environmental initiatives are a core part of our approach to development, with stage one of the Glasshouse Mountains redevelopment to include EV charging bays, rooftop solar, rainwater harvesting, greywater reuse, and new fuel tank technology. Turning to the financials, our FFO and distributions per security were 1% below the prior corresponding half as a result of a 60 basis point increase in our average cost of debt, as well as moderate dilution from asset divestments, partly offset by solid like-for-like income growth.
We remain on track to deliver FY2025 guidance. NTA per security stabilized, up 0.3% to AUD 3.57 as a result of net property valuation increases. As I touched on earlier, divestments during the half have reduced gearing to below the midpoint of our target range. This positions us well to consider various strategic capital deployment options above and beyond the current development at Glasshouse Mountains.
We also enhanced our debt book during the year, having executed AUD 46.3 million of facility cancellations to deliver incremental savings in the future. Independent valuations were undertaken across 38 assets in the portfolio, with internal valuations undertaken across the balance, which incorporated assumptions aligned with external valuations. Overall, property valuations increased for the first time since 2021, increasing by 0.5% on prior book values, driven by the impact of fixed rental escalations more than offsetting six basis points of cap rate expansion. The portfolio capitalization rate of 6.41% is supported by significant transaction volumes in the market, which have improved to in line with historical averages and remains above the marginal cost of debt, which has appeal to a broad direct investor base.
Despite a higher interest rate environment in 2024, fuel and convenience transaction volumes demonstrated a solid recovery, allowing for material price discovery to inform DXC asset valuations and NTA. We are seeing increasingly strong pricing for assets with QSR retailing attached in line with the Glasshouse Mountains redevelopment, providing indicative valuation support for the asset on completion. Investors in the direct market continue to take a long-term view on underlying land value growth and tenant lease renewal potential. This is in stark contrast to the discount currently implied in DXC's listed market pricing. Capital recycling over the period, and indeed over the last two and a half years since the escalation of the current interest rate environment, has delivered strong outcomes that increase the portfolio's overall investment resilience whilst providing the vehicle with redeployment growth options.
Overall, through 22 asset divestments totaling over AUD 100 million of capital release, we have materially enhanced the portfolio in a way that provides increased weighting to highway and metro locations, greater exposure to traffic volumes, higher underlying land values that support overall valuation, whilst also modernizing the portfolio with new build assets. Our approach to active capital and portfolio management provides the fund with balance sheet capacity to fund meaningful growth opportunities. The Glasshouse Mountains project presents an opportunity to significantly enhance overall portfolio quality whilst delivering strong returns for unit holders.
We recently commenced construction at the northbound site, which will include a new expanded On The Run Viva Energy convenience retail offering which will be focused on food on the go, grocery convenience, and includes an internal Hungry Jack's restaurant, in addition to three quick service restaurant pad sites with McDonald's, GYG, and KFC in the form of direct leases with DXC. The project is expected to complete in early 2026, and as the project is a fund through, this has no financial impact to DXC's FFO during the development period. We continue to expect development returns that comfortably exceed DXC's cost of capital, whilst also boosting average portfolio WALE.
In summary, we are well placed to deliver defensive and growing property income and will retain our focus on enhancing portfolio attributes that deliver certainty and growth of income, preserving balance sheet strength, executing portfolio optimization initiatives, including the Glasshouse Mountains redevelopment and other potential growth opportunities, including development pipeline restocking. In relation to FY2025 guidance, we reiterate our expectation to deliver FFO and distributions per security of AUD 0.206. Our FY2025 guidance reflects an attractive distribution yield of over 7% for investors, backed by strong income visibility. Thank you for joining the presentation today, and with that, I'll hand back over to the moderator for Q&A.
Thank you. If you do wish to ask a question, please press star then 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 your handset before asking your question. Your first question today comes from Murray Condon from Morgans Australia. Please go ahead.
Morning, Jason. Just noting that the CapEx or the anticipated total capital cost of Glasshouse Mountains redevelopment has increased a little bit over the last six months. I was wondering whether you could maybe just unpack why that was and, I guess, maybe just highlight a bit more broadly what the redevelopment entails at this point.
Yeah, thanks, Murray. Look, I might just start on the northbound side because that's no longer a moving face with all our terms are locked in, including the development spend piece. That reflects the increase, rather, reflects an upward adjustment to rental terms that we've agreed with the major tenant, which ultimately flows through to the price that we've paid. It's important to note that has no bearing on the profitability on the capital outlay for stage one of the development. As it relates to stage two, yes, the expected expenditure has ticked up a little bit, and there are a few moving parts still for that site.
There's design, finalization of pad site tenancies, rental levels, etc. They're all things that we will need to finalize over the next six to nine months, which will ultimately lock in how much or what that expenditure will ultimately look like. Based on where the product sits in the market today, even with the increased expenditure expectations, we're very comfortable with where that product sits in the market at the moment. It's a very attractive capital deployment option for us.
Thanks. Just noting that with the gearing now having a two-handle on it, of course, that'll tick up with the redevelopment coming through. In the context of where we sit in the cycle with cap rates arguably starting to stabilize a bit more, I was wondering how you were thinking about the balance sheet and, I guess, whether you see yourselves as having capacity for a bit of deployment.
Yeah. Look, I mean, our operating range for gearing is 25-40%, and that is to allow flexibility during various stages of the valuation cycle. In terms of where we take gearing to from here, it will be dependent on the nature and attractiveness of deployment opportunities. Regardless, we'd be managing with a comfortable buffer to the top end of that range. If you think about our commitments at Glasshouse Mountains stage one, the potential to development stage two, I'd say we have capacity for at least another one to two meaningful development sites.
Is that how you're thinking about deployment, development versus acquisition? I guess just noting that you've got the buyback on as well, how you're thinking about that.
Sure. Look, our preference for capital allocation at this stage is for development over established acquisitions. In the current environment, the risk-adjusted returns on offer are just better in that sort of fund-through development space. That is the function of developers having their foot on sites but not necessarily access to the capital to unlock them.
We believe there is a window of opportunity for balance sheet operators like DXC to take advantage of that in the current environment, especially for projects with ticket sizes in the AUD 20 million-AUD 40 million range. As it relates to the buyback, yes, we continue to keep that on to retain flexibility. Obviously, any decision to undertake buyback activity does come down to a number of considerations, including returns on offer on other capital deployment options, gearing implications, but also stock liquidity and market cap relevance. Our position at this stage is that there are high returning options available in the form of fund through developments, but we will continue to take a balanced approach in terms of how we assess the attractiveness of the buyback going forward.
Thanks very much. All the best.
Thanks, Murray.
Thank you.
Thank you once again. If you do wish to ask a question, please press star then one on your phone to register. Your next question comes from Andy MacFarlane at Bell Potter. Please go ahead.
Morning, Jason team. Just a question around guidance you've reiterated today. The yield curve, I guess, has improved a few notches in your favor. Yeah, what are you kind of thinking here?
Thanks, Andy. I mean, you're right in highlighting that the shape of the curve now is pointing to average floating rates that are probably a little bit better than what we would have thought going back to August last year at the time of setting guidance. In isolation, I think it's fair to say there is some marginal upside associated with that. However, what we have done over the period is cancel AUD 46 million worth of debt facilities. With that, we've had to write off some of the debt establishment costs associated with that. There is a net benefit of doing that, but we won't see that until there's a full period impact of that. That is more of an FY2026 story there. That is the offsetting driver to arguably lower floating rates than we previously anticipated.
Yep. Yep. That's helpful. In a similar vein, in terms of the hedging, haven't really done any through the period. I guess, how are you thinking about hedging really at this point and where we are in the cycle?
Yeah. Look, it's been a relatively quiet period for us over the first half, and that is primarily a function of the strong starting point that we had. We were 78% hedged over the first half, average of greater than 70% for FY2025. That said, with the interest rate outlook where it currently stands, I think there's some good value on offer in the two- to three-year part of the curve, and I think that presents some good incremental hedging opportunities over the second half.
Cool. Thanks for your time. Pleasure. It's me.
Thank you.
Thank you. As we are showing no further questions, I'll hand back to Jason for closing remarks.
Thanks everyone for taking the time this morning to join on the call, and I look forward to catching up with many of you over the coming days and weeks. Thank you very much.
Thank you. That concludes the conference for today. You may now disconnect your lines.