Well, good morning, everyone, and welcome to GPT's 2023 interim results briefing. Joining me for today's presentation are Anastasia Clarke, our Group CFO, Chris Barnett, Head of Retail and Mixed Use, Martin Ritchie, Head of Office, and Chris Davis, Head of Logistics. I'd like to start by acknowledging the traditional custodians of the land on which our business and our assets operate, and pay my respects to elders past, present, and emerging. I extend that respect to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples participating in this briefing. I'm pleased to report that we've delivered a solid result for the first half in what continues to be a challenging environment, with the RBA cash rate increasing 400 basis points since May last year, impacting earnings and valuations.
FFO per security for the half was AUD 0.1653 per security, down 3%. The group has declared an interim distribution of AUD 0.125, which is down 1.6% from the prior period. NTA and total return were impacted as a result of the valuation of the investment portfolio declining approximately 2%. The weighted average cap rate softened 25 basis points to 5.11%. The occupancy of the group's diversified portfolio is close to 98%. Including the new mandates we secured last year, the group has AUD 19 billion of funds under management and AUD 32.2 billion in assets under management, providing diversification across the sectors and a valuable funds management earning stream to the group.
Our retail platform has continued to deliver strong results, with occupancy of 99.5%, positive leasing spreads being achieved, and sustainable occupancy costs. Melbourne Central has recovered, with sales up 26% on the first half of 2022. While sales growth has slowed as higher interest rates slow through to the consumer, unemployment remains low, population growth is rebounding, and house prices have stabilized, which should provide a level of support for retail sales. Our logistics portfolio is also delivering strong results. Ongoing tenant demand and low vacancy in each of the key markets is driving rents higher, and we are capturing this through leasing spreads and through our development completions. During the period, there were 3 development completions, and we are targeting to complete a further 2 developments in the second half.
The office sector, however, remains challenging due to elevated levels of market vacancy and the reduction in workspace requirements as a result of remote and hybrid working. During the period, 58,800 square meters of leasing was achieved, and portfolio occupancy at June 30 was 88.5%, in line with December last year. While we have some further lease expiry in the second half, we are currently targeting to achieve portfolio occupancy of approximately 90% by the end of the year. Clearly, office leasing remains a key focus for the group. In May, we commenced a marketing campaign for our 50% interest in Australia Square. However, investor appetite remains cautious and the sales process remains ongoing at this point in time. The group's balance sheet remains in good shape, with gearing below the midpoint of our target gearing range.
We are holding high levels of liquidity and have modest debt maturities over the next two years. We've also continued with our focus on ESG leadership. This continues to be important for investors in GPT, but also investors in our funds and mandates. All our investment assets were independently revalued as at June 30. As mentioned earlier, this resulted in a decline in the portfolio valuation of approximately 2% or AUD 341 million during the period. This was largely driven by the office portfolio, with a valuation decline of 4%, with cap rates expanding 21 basis points to 5.24%. Investment metrics for retail softened a similar amount. This was partially offset by increases in market rents, leading to a valuation decline of 1.8%.
Investment metrics logistics saw the greatest movement during the period, with cap rates for our portfolio expanding 38 basis points to 4.78%. The strong growth in market rents has offset the softening of investment metrics, with the logistics portfolio valuation effectively flat for the period. As you know, there has been limited transaction evidence in the first half for the valuers to rely on. However, with confidence emerging that the interest rate hiking cycle is now likely to be close to peak, I expect that we'll see more transaction evidence emerge over the next 6-9 months. In summary, it has been a solid half from each of the sectors, offset by a material increase in finance costs, reflecting the higher interest rate environment.
I will now hand over to Anastasia to provide more detail on the financial results before we hear from each of the sector heads.
Thank you, Bob, and good morning. Commencing with the financial results for the six months to 30 June. Today, we are reporting a slight statutory loss of AUD 1.1 million, funds from operations of AUD 316.7 million, the positive AUD 23.5 million mark to market of treasury instruments, was offset by decreases in valuation of AUD 341.3 million from office and retail. FFO per security declined 3% on the comparative first half, which I'll provide more detail on in a moment. Free cash flow grew 2.6%, driven by favorable working capital movements and lower office lease incentives due to less office lease commencements in the half.
The distribution per security of AUD 0.125 represents a 95.9% payout free cash flow, and a comparative reduction in distribution of 1.6%. Turning to each portfolio's performance in the segment results. Retail segment income grew 9.5% to deliver AUD 158.8 million in FFO. Strong growth in retail earnings was driven by underlying rent increases, high growth in retail sales delivering turnover rent, and the collection of previously provisioned aged debtors. The office segment income declined 3.5% to AUD 143.7 million of FFO, as a result of lower average occupancy and lower income from the wholesale office fund due to higher interest costs.
Logistics income grew 7%, contributing AUD 97.6 million to FFO, with growth driven from base rent increases, positive leasing spreads, and the contribution from developments fully leased on completion. Funds management profit grew 24.7% to AUD 34.3 million as a result of the contribution from new mandates. Finance costs increased materially to AUD 82.5 million, up from AUD 54.1 million, due to a higher cost of debt of 4.1% compared to the comparative half of 2.5%. I will speak further about the group's hedging and cost of debt shortly. Tax expense increased by AUD 2.7 million, in line with the increased fee income from the new mandate. Lease incentives declined due to a lower level of new office lease commencements during the half.
Overall, the group has delivered AFFO of AUD 265.8 million. Now turning to the group's hedge position and projected cost of debt. Our floating interest rate exposure has reduced during the half, with the group lengthening hedge duration and increasing the level of interest rate protection. This has resulted in the next 18 months being approximately 90% hedged, and our average fixed rate over the next 3.5 years is 3.5%. Combining base rates with margin and fees, which have remained stable, our forecast all-in cost of debt increases from 4.1% in the first half to 5.2% in the second half, resulting in an estimated full year cost of debt of 4.7%. Turning to capital management on slide 11.
NTA has decreased to AUD 5.85 per security due to office and retail portfolio valuation decreases at 30 June. Net gearing is stable at 28.1%, remaining in the lower half of our management target range of 25%-35%. The group further increased available liquidity to AUD 1.5 billion, which funds the group's debt refinancing and capital commitments through to mid-2026. We maintain a long averaged loan duration of 6.1 years. We are mindful of the risk of further asset valuation decreases, informing our ongoing disciplined approach to capital management, noting that the group has limited capital commitments. In summary, the group is positioned well. Our credit ratings remain within our target A- space range. We maintain a strong balance sheet getting into the second half.
I will now pass to Chris Barnett for an update on our retail portfolio.
Thank you, Anastasia, and good morning, everyone. I'd now like to take you through the results of our retail business, which has continued to perform strongly off the back of our exceptional year last year. Our financial results for the half have delivered comparable income growth of 6.4% over the prior period, predominantly as a result of rental growth, strong sales, driving higher turnover rent, and our continued success in debtor collections. Our leasing team continues to perform strongly following the momentum from last year, with our portfolio occupancy now at 99.5%. Our total center sales grew 11.8% to 30 June and are now almost 17% up on pre-pandemic. This growth in sales has also driven specialty productivity to over AUD 12,700 per square meter and delivered a portfolio specialty occupancy cost of 15.7%.
Off the back of the recent trading environment, our retail partners are in great shape, with retailer sentiment and outlook remaining positive. Now turning to slide 14, where the retail market in Australia continues to grow strongly during the first half of 2023. This growth in sales results in the size of the market being over 20% larger than pre-pandemic, and is strongly supported by low levels of unemployment, high household savings, and population growth. Retail price inflation has had a positive impact on retail sales, and as retailers have been able to pass increased operating costs onto consumers, their profitability has outperformed over the past three years. 2023 has also seen physical stores continue to recapture market share from online, with over 90% of all retail spending in Australia now involving a physical retail shop.
Now turning to slide 15, continuing off the success of last year, our leasing teams have been able to maintain their momentum to improve all of our key leasing metrics for the half. The growth in total specialty sales has delivered an historically low occupancy cost, resulting in strong retailer demand and high center occupancy. The combination of the above has enabled our leasing spreads to achieve a positive 3.4% for the 343 deals concluded to June. For the deals completed during the half, all were structured with fixed-based rents and annual increases averaging 4.8%, and our leasing terms have now extended to over five years. Turning to retail sales on slide 16, where our centers continue to perform strongly, growing at 11.8%, and our total specialties were up 10.1 for the half.
Our major retailers have all continued to grow when compared to the very productive first half of 2022. Supermarkets have grown 13.1% for the half, which is 20% higher than 2021. Similarly, our total specialties have also grown by more than 10%, resulting in a 20% increase from 2021. The graph on the left of the slide highlights that the majority of our specialty categories are showing strong growth, with dining, health, beauty, and fresh food leading the way. Now turning to slide 17, where I wanted to provide an update on Melbourne Central, which continues its remarkable recovery. The total center's MAT is now exceeding pre-pandemic levels, and our total specialty productivity has improved to AUD 15,200 per square meter.
Strong leasing demand has driven occupancy to 99.7%, as the asset continues to attract first-to-market retailers. It's this demand that has allowed the center to achieve positive leasing spreads of 7.2% on average for tenants that have renewed throughout the year. Our outlook for the center remains extremely positive, which will only benefit further from the expected increase in inbound tourism. Highpoint has also continued to go from strength to strength, with MAT now exceeding AUD 1.2 billion. The center is benefiting from the successful introduction of Coles and Foodle, with the recent opening of the first to market full-line Asian supermarket, which is owned and operated by renowned Melbourne restaurateur, David Loh.
The center is effectively fully leased and off the back of our specialty sales productivity at around AUD 13,000 per square meter, we've achieved positive leasing spreads of 6.3% on deals concluded for the half. Highpoint continues to outperform, and the asset is well positioned for future growth. With the complementary introduction of the UniSuper and ACRT mandates, GPT has established an enviable portfolio of quality retail assets. Our retail platform of 16 centers includes over 4,000 retailers, generating sales in excess of AUD 9 billion per year. The scale of our retail platform gives us access to around 190 million customer visits a year, who provide us with rich data and insight, which informs us to continually improve their experiences within our assets.
The quality of our portfolio allows our leasing teams to enhance relationships across all sectors of the retail market, from the highly productive luxury houses through to the daily needs and services which anchor our successful fresh food precincts. Our focus on the customer remains our highest priority as we curate our assets to drive retailer sales productivity. Finally, on Slide 19, our outlook for the second half of 2023 remains positive. Retail sales growth has been exceptionally strong over the past 18 months, but we do expect that sales growth will moderate in the second half of the year. Our retailers are in good shape heading into a period of slower retail growth, having experienced high levels of profitability over the past 3 years, coupled with low occupancy costs.
Our customers are enjoying high levels of employment, and whilst household saving ratios have returned to pre-pandemic levels, Australian households have built up over AUD 250 billion in excess savings when compared to 2019. Our retailers remain optimistic, which continues to drive leasing demand, ensuring that our assets are in great shape, and coupled with our quality portfolio and operating platform, we are well positioned for future growth. I'll now hand you over to Martin for the office sector update.
Thank you, Chris, and good morning, everyone. I'd now like to take you through the results of the office business. The portfolio has delivered AUD 163.9 million of income in the first half, which is a solid result in the challenging market conditions. The team is very focused on leasing, and despite lease expiry of approximately 4% this year to June 30, our portfolio has demonstrated its resilience by maintaining stable occupancy of 88.5% and WALE of 4.8 years. Office assets under management sit at AUD 14.4 billion. Vacancy remains elevated across our core markets, and demand is low, with negative net absorption in Sydney, but positive net absorption in Melbourne and Brisbane. Customers have numerous options and can command substantial incentives, making it a highly competitive leasing market.
Our leasing strategy is designed to differentiate our assets from the competition. It assists us greatly that our portfolio is entirely prime grade, as we are clearly seeing that customers prefer high-quality space with great amenity to attract employees. Small occupiers under 1,000 sq m continue to be the most active, and we are seeing increased activity from medium-sized occupiers in the 2,000-4,000 sq m range. In respective commercial terms, we see face rents increasing, whilst incentives are expected to remain elevated. Leasing is the key focus for the team. We've achieved 58,800 sq m across 86 transactions for an average lease term of 4.9 years. This is a positive result for the first half. Larger customers accounted for nearly 60%, and the balance was smaller customers under 1,000 sq m.
Our fully fitted workplace offering, GPT DesignSuites, made up almost a quarter of the leased space. Expire for the second half of the year is 3%, and we are targeting occupancy of 90% by year-end. I will now take you through the four aspects of our strategy to re-lease vacant and expiring space. The first aspect of our leasing strategy is providing fitted-out space. GPT DesignSuites are fully fitted to a very high standard and includes all the technology required for our customers to connect and start working immediately. The design is adaptable and can be modified to serve different users over time. Our customers tell us these suites are enticing their people back to the workplace, as they provide an exceptional experience and foster collaboration.
GPT DesignSuites have been listed as award finalists for innovation by the Property Council of Australia and The Urban Developer. The suites provide the portfolio with greater diversity as we increase our exposure to sub 1,000 sq m customers, which make up approximately 40% of the market. They have been successful. Since January 2022, a total of nearly 50,000 square meters of GPT DesignSuites have been delivered. Those leased to date were leased on average within 4.3 months of practical completion, achieving an average lease term of 4.3 years and higher rents compared to an unfitted whole floor rates. Providing flexible space is the second aspect of our leasing strategy. GPT Space&Co is regarded as a key attractor for customers who come to our buildings.
It supports our customers' increasing desire for flexibility, offering a core and flex workplace solution. Customers get access to plug-and-play workstations, small offices, and meeting room facilities across all GPT Space&Co venues in Australia. This facility means that customers can take up extra areas as and when they need them, and only for as long as they need them. There are 8 venues in the portfolio, occupying 14,000 sq m, with 3 more under development. The third key aspect of our leasing strategy is maintaining high sustainability credentials. Almost all customers specify high ESG credentials in their workplace accommodation briefs. Therefore, it's an advantage for GPT to be a leader in this area.
For example, the GWOF operating portfolio has been certified as carbon neutral since 2020, and all GPT office assets are now operating carbon neutral, with Climate Active certification for the last few assets by the end of 2023. As you can see from the slide, the reductions in energy, waste, and water are significant and also generate operational cost efficiency. The fourth key attribute is the high quality and amenity of our buildings. They are all prime grade, and significant investment has been made over the last few years. 78% of the portfolio has been constructed or refurbished since 2012. The portfolio aesthetic and amenity meets the very high standards demanded from our customers. Premium amenity is provided to our customers through hotel-like concierge services, food and beverage offerings, exceptional end-of-trip facilities, appealing third spaces, wellness, and community events.
Our high net promoter score of 71 reflects our customer satisfaction with GPT's offering. Finally, on slide 28, our outlook for the market is that high vacancy and low levels of demand will persist. We expect customers to remain cautious about making longer-term workplace commitments in this environment. However, the office will continue to play a vital role in building company culture and attracting and retaining talent. We expect leasing to remain very competitive for some time, and our portfolio will continue to appeal to existing and new customers, as our assets have been recently refurbished with excellent amenities. Notably, we have approximately 18,000 square meters of GPT DesignSuites, well progressed, which will help drive second half leasing.
I'm confident that the four aspects of our experience-led workplace strategy means our portfolio is positioned well for a successful second half of leasing. We continue to target 90% occupancy by the end of the year. I'll now hand over to Chris to provide the logistics portfolio update.
Thank you, Martin, and good morning. The logistics portfolio has performed strongly in the first half, achieving a segment contribution of $99 million, up 7.4%, as a result of underlying income growth, together with development completions. Comparable income growth was 5.1%, driven by re-leasing spreads, structured rent increases, and higher portfolio occupancy of 99.8%. Assets under management has increased to $4.9 billion as we grow our partnership with QuadReal and deliver enhanced returns through development. Turning to slide 31. Occupier demand continues to outpace supply, with market rents growing by a further 8% in the first half. This is seen most acutely in Sydney, with vacancy of just 0.2%. The low vacancy environment and limited uncommitted supply underway, means many occupiers are not able to satisfy facility requirements in the immediate term.
There is currently 2.7 million square meters of live market inquiry. When comparing this to uncommitted supply, we expect to see vacancy remain low over the next 12 months. Now turning to leasing, where we've completed 109,000 sq m of deals in the first half. Leasing outcomes are helping drive income growth, with our portfolio achieving a positive leasing spread of 40% on expiries and renewals. Our developments have contributed strongly to portfolio performance, achieving rents well in excess of feasibility commerce. The projects completed in the half are all fully leased. Transport operators and 3PLs are the most active sector in the market, representing around 40% of take-up. We have secured deals with a number of these groups, including leases to existing customers, Australia Post, DHL, and Mainfreight.
This leasing activity continues to enhance the quality and diversity of our customer base, with over 70% of income generated from ASX-listed or multinational companies. Turning to slide 33. We have the opportunity to achieve further rental upside, with nearly half of the portfolio expiring over the next 4 years. The logistics markets have seen sustained rent growth over the past 12 months, on top of the increases experienced in previous periods. We estimate that for upcoming expiries, we are on average at least 15% under rented compared to market. We are well positioned to capture higher rents through the quality of our portfolio and execution of leasing and retention strategies. Now on slide 34. We're seeing strong demand for new facilities in the best locations as our customers invest to make their supply chains more efficient.
Across our partnership with QuadReal and our balance sheet portfolio, we will deliver 5 projects in 2023, with a forecast yield on cost of 6.4%. Our AUD 2 billion development pipeline is approximately 90% weighted to Sydney and Melbourne, and we expect to commence additional projects later this year to capitalize on pent-up tenant demand. We've been pleased to see a noticeable increase in the demand from customers seeking logistics facilities with strong sustainability attributes. Over half of Australia's top 100 industrial and logistics occupiers now have net zero targets, increasing the focus from these groups on sustainability over the past 12 months. We are supporting our customers on this journey through leveraging GPT sustainability strategies. Our developments target minimum 5-star Green Star ratings and upfront embodied carbon neutral certification.
We are deploying a range of initiatives to maximize the efficiency of energy, waste, and water resources, and to preference locally made construction materials. We're also engaged in programs to support the well-being of our customer staff, including through our partnership with a not-for-profit foundation focused on improving mental health in the transport and logistics sector. Now to outlook. We expect vacancy to remain low into the second half of 2023, with this being exacerbated by planning approval delays, particularly in Sydney. Rents are expected to increase, albeit the rate of growth will moderate from the historic highs we saw last year. Our logistics strategy remains to maximize income opportunities, enhance returns through development and our QuadReal partnership, and to broaden our relationships with customers and partner with them to deliver leading ESG outcomes.
Our portfolio is concentrated in Australia's deepest markets of Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane, and it's complemented by a pipeline of development projects that will further enhance the quality and scale of our portfolio. I will now hand back to Bob.
Thanks, Chris. We have seen a rapid change in economic conditions over the last 12 months, with high inflation and the RBA responding aggressively with interest rate rises. It would appear that we are now close to the end of the rate rising cycle, with the economy slowing and inflation trending lower. While the full impact of the rate rise is yet to flow through, unemployment remains low and house prices have stabilized, which should provide support to our retail and logistics businesses. As flagged by Anastasia, our cost of debt has increased, reflecting higher rates, and this will move higher in the second half as we continue to transition from ultra-low rates. We continue to see good momentum across our retail portfolio with ongoing tenant demand.
While retail sales are expected to moderate as the economy slows, our portfolio is well placed with high occupancy, sustainable occupancy costs, and fixed rental increases. For the office portfolio, market conditions are expected to remain challenging due to elevated levels of market vacancy and the reduction in workspace requirements as a result of remote and hybrid working. However, our portfolio is well positioned to satisfy tenant preferences for high-quality buildings with strong sustainability credentials and amenity. There is clearly a fight to quality as businesses use both flexibility and their workplace to attract talent. In logistics, our portfolio remains well positioned to deliver further rental growth, given the ongoing tenant demand, low market vacancy rates, and limited uncommitted supply. These favorable conditions will also support our development opportunities for both the balance sheet and our partnership with QuadReal.
Expanding our relationships with existing and new capital partners is also an area we will continue to pursue, following the successful integration of the UniSuper mandate and ACRT last year. We have a healthy balance sheet. However, given the economic uncertainty and the potential for further softening of investment metrics and valuations, we will continue to take a measured and prudent approach to capital management. In terms of earnings and distribution guidance for the year, the group expects to deliver FFO of approximately AUD 0.313 per security and a distribution of AUD 0.25 per security for the full year, 2023. Finally, in terms of the CEO succession process, the board is continuing to work with its advisors, Russell Reynolds, to bring this process to a conclusion as soon as possible. There will obviously be an announcement at the appropriate time.
That concludes our remarks, and I'd like to now hand back to the operator for your questions.
Thank you. If you 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're on a speakerphone, please pick up the handset to ask your question. The first question comes from Caleb Wheatley from Macquarie Group. Please go ahead.
Good morning, Bob and team. Thank you for the presentation. My first question just around FY 2023 guidance. Just using the print from the first half, seems like you're implying about a 1% decline into the second half. Conscious that you, you're flagging the rising cost of debt to 5.2%, but just wondering if you could provide any additional components of that guidance number we should be thinking about going to the second half, please?
Thanks, Caleb, for the question. I think the main factor is that, yeah, we are seeing a step up in interest rates, or a weighted average cost of debt in the second half, and that's, that's the drag on earnings in the second half. The underlying businesses, you know, continue to deliver, you know, in line with expectations. We've seen very strong performance out of both retail and logistics. Clearly, yes, there is some softness with office leasing. All in all, I think the main factor for the second half is the step up in the cost of debt.
Okay. Thank you. My second question, just on the office occupancy target. Seems like it's softened slightly to approximately 90. I think the prior commentary was around sort of greater than 90%. Could you just provide some additional detail on if there was any movement around the edges there and the thought behind that? As we go into the second half, key expiries and any commentary on ability to re-lease those as well.
I'll start, and I might hand over to Martin in a moment. Thanks again, Caleb. First of all, we're pleased to have secured our 59,000 sq m or just under that, of leasing in the 1st half. Our DesignSuites product has been, you know, well received by the market, and that's gaining a lot of traction. We've got a fair bit of that completing or it's under construction at the moment and will be delivered in the 2nd half, and they, they are leasing up well in the market, so being well received. We have moderated the target, given, I guess, where we're at the end of the 1st half, and I guess the challenging conditions that we do, you know, foreshadow over the next 6 months.
I guess, we remain confident that we'll get to, that sort of circa 90% by the end of the year. You know, in, as I say, it's, it's a very competitive market. Martin, do you want to give any more or, on that?
Yeah. Thanks, Bob. Yeah, Caleb, I think the. Perhaps the way to look at the leasing of the vacancy and the expiry is, is that we've done about 23,700 sq m in the first half. That contributes to about 90%, and we have to achieve about 15,500 sq m of leasing to get to that 90%. I guess we, we feel, you know, reasonably confident that we can achieve that target.
Okay. Just some of your comments around DesignSuites and, you know, construction of those, in addition to obviously trying to get to the target, it's probably gonna require some incentive to come alongside it. Like, how should we think about kind of free cash flow in order to get to that target? Is there a bit of a risk that maybe you pay up a bit more with all this preparatory work before, in order to reach it, or how should we think about it on an FFO basis?
No, I think the way to think about DesignSuites is that the cost of providing the suite is in, in the order of a, an, a normal incentive for a five-year lease term. To actually get the suite away, there's only a couple of % of incentive actually, actually given, so it's, it's negligible. I think thinking about DesignSuites, I wouldn't be concerned about additional cost for leasing those.
I might just ask then, Serge, a bit, bit more, bit more color, though, on the second half in terms of, FFO CapEx leasing maintenance.
Yeah. Hi, Caleb. There is a skewing actually to the second half, so you would have seen the results for the first half were down in office lease incentives, and we had a payout ratio of 95.9%. We're confident in our guidance that we've been able to maintain, and that's estimating around 100% payout of free cash flow. We believe we will land in that 95%-105% payout ratio. There's a skewing to the second half associated with some maintenance CapEx in retail, but also an uplift in lease incentives paid in office.
Some of those lease incentives will be deals that were done in the first half, but they're starting to flow in the second half, or could have even been done, some of them, last year. That's, there is a skewing on those leasing incentives in the second half.
Great. That, that's clear. Thank you for your time again this morning.
Good.
Thank you. Your next question comes from Solomon Zhang, from JP Morgan. Please go ahead.
Morning, guys. First question was just on retail. Just wanted to get a comment on the deterioration of spreads from 4% in, in March to 3.4%. I know it's only very slight, but I think it's pretty interesting directionally. Is that sort of a bit less starting rent, but higher fixed price?
I'll just ask Chris Barnett to give you some color on that. Chris?
Thanks, Bob. Thanks, Solomon. The leasing spreads have improved 3.4% for the first half. I think that's up from 2.8 in December last year. The majority of the leasing spread at the moment is coming out of our new merchants, around about 5%, and our renewals are, are at 2. When you look at our spreads across the board, we're really being able to achieve greater spreads in our, in our apparel, in our dining. Our many majors are up, travel's up, and probably lesser positive number in more discretionary items like homewares and, and, and jewelry.
Yeah. Gotcha. Chris, I was probably noting to the March spreads at 4% versus the June, so a very slight deterioration. Yes, take your point, that's 50/50, they've grown.
Look, it's for the half, we're up 3.4. If we're up at 4% at March, it's probably more timing than anything.
Yeah, it's just there'll be certain deals that are, you know, you know, flow into that. They're just timing of deals, that's all.
Just two quick ones on the second result, just the retail one. The debt collections increased to 4.1%. Is that a write back of ETL and one-off in nature?
That's correct, Solomon. AUD 4.1 million upside from a reversal of ETL provisions due to the cash collections that came in, just at 101% for the half.
Great. Just in terms of the turnover rent for the half, could you quantify how much of that is in that AUD 15.5 number?
Around about, Solomon, around about AUD 5 million, but percentage rent as a total is to, I think, less than 2% of our total revenue.
In terms of revenue for the retail group, so in between that sort of 2% and 3% typically is what it is. I think it's in that range at the moment.
All right. Thank you.
Thank.
Thank you. Your next question comes from Grant McCasker from UBS. Please go ahead.
Good morning, Bob and team. While we're on retail, can we just touch on some more recent trading, July and any anecdotes you have in August and how leasing has trended very recently?
Yeah. Chris, would you like to take that?
Yeah, happy to, Bob. Good morning, Grant. I think maybe when we look at retail sales for the half, obviously a very strong performance being 11% up, but that was 16% for the 1st quarter, 8 for the 2nd. Again, sorry, in June, our, our result was closer to 5. We are starting to see a, a moderation of sales. We haven't completed our July numbers yet, but July will be comping against the strongest month in 2022. Anecdotally, the, the numbers that we have seen would suggest that we're, we're probably flat. Our leasing spreads, really, to be honest, it's, it's a consequence of demand, supply. We've got really strong occupancy in our centers today. We've got high retail demand.
At the moment, we're being able to hold the, the leasing spreads on the deals that we've concluded since June.
Can you touch on the, the reason for the material increase in holdovers for the period?
Look, it's material compared to December, but not compared to a usual half-year of 6% of total revenue. It's of total income. It's, it's about consistent where we are at June. We obviously have a harder run home for the year, where we try to complete most of our deals before the end of the calendar year. December usually has a higher or lesser holdover percent than June.
Okay, thanks. Then just turning to logistics and logistics development, can we touch on Yirrabarri: it looks like you've reset costs for that project. Can you just remind us the timing of when you expect to get some projects out of the ground and the reason for the material increase in cost?
Yeah, it's a good question. Thanks, Grant. Look, as you may know, Sydney Water, levies have been imposed on a lot of the development sites out at Kemps Creek, and that's been the material change, to be quite, quite honest, in those costs. Clearly, what we've also seen is rents have stepped up significantly out in that market. Chris, you want to give a more color on that, and when you think we'll see the first developments come out of the ground there?
Yeah. Thank you. We're a long way progressed in terms of the planning process. It certainly has been protracted, so it's a little frustrating, but we hope that that'll be finalized in the next couple of months. Then we look to be on site later this year to start earthworks, then the first building starting in the first half of next year. In terms of that market, obviously, as Bob mentioned, there's been very strong rent growth. There's a lot of pent-up tenant demand looking at that space, but obviously we haven't been able to commit deals because of uncertainty with planning. Obviously, with Sydney vacancy at 0.2%, there's a real need for that stock to come online.
Just to confirm, nearly the AUD 100 million increase in cost relates to the Sydney Water cost?
There's a mix of elements. There's the Sydney Water, which is the largest component. There's also been an update in construction costs, naturally, just given what's happened-
Sure.
...In the last couple of years. Also with higher rents, there is also the higher incentives that were assumed. We're still assuming the same sort of % incentive, but naturally, the actual quantum of dollars have increased as well. They're the main components.
Okay. Just a quick one, Australia Square. Can you provide any further commentary on that?
If it doesn't go ahead, where could we expect to see some asset sales?
Yeah, look, the, the process commenced back in May for the sale of Australia Square. As you know, volumes have been very low in the first half of this year. Buyers continue to sort of sit on the sideline waiting for some sort of price discovery and a bit more certainty around where valuations land. It has been a slow process, and it's ongoing at the moment, so I can't give you too much more color on that yet. Clearly, if that we don't transact on that, we will look to see if there's some other assets we can move, maybe some smaller assets that we could move. We want to continue to maintain, I guess, no, our debt balance at about the same sort of level rather than increasing it.
To fund some of the developments, we look, look to recycle some capital out of probably some of the smaller assets then, if we don't move Australia Square.
Okay, thank you.
Thank you. Your next question comes from Sholto Maconochie from Jefferies. Please go ahead.
Oh, hi, Bob and team. Just a couple from me. Just on Aussie Square, is that assuming guidance to sale in the last quarter or in, in the, in the guidance number?
The sale of Australia Square wouldn't move the numbers materially. We haven't assumed it, but it's sold in the second half at this point in time. It wouldn't make a material difference, to be quite honest. Yeah, the company guidance with or without it, but.
I guess the calculated debt cost will be similar. And then, on... I think it was already answered, the leasing centers, they'll, they'll kick up in the second half from leasing bills down in the first sort of land in the second half. Is that correct?
Yeah, that's correct. those, you know, we will see a, a tick up in them. They can be related to deals that were done in the first half or even last year. It's just when the incentives start to flow. yes, you will, you will see them tick up in the second half. Mm.
Just on, on the hedging one, probably Anastasia here. I noticed the hedging before, that 78% hedge, now you're sort of 98%, but the hedge rate's gone up materially. Running about 2.5% and 3.1%. You've increased hedging, but at, at higher rates, that's been the driver and plus the higher floating will be the main driver of that higher cost of debt in the next sort of 12 months.
Yeah, we have. We've lengthened the duration of hedging, and we have materially increased it. We felt that there was another step change around expectation globally for rate rises. In fact, that applies obviously to our central bank, although I'd say it has been a touch more modest than what, what it could have been. We were just very pleased with getting on hedges around the 3.5% level, compared to where you're seeing market at, at around 4%.
Okay, then just update on, to Darling Park a few months back. It looks pretty good with this, the fit out. How's the leasing going on, getting that leased up?
Yep. With, with Darling Park, we've leased about 5,200 square meters in the complex over the first six months. The rest of the, the CBA space is all presented and ready to go, and there's active engagement from a number of tenants in discussions on that, on some of that vacancy right now.
Okay. Then just finally, but I think Bob said to CEO on, on going, is that strictly announced before the end of the year, since it's been going a while now?
Look, all I can say at the moment is the board is working diligently to bring, I guess, this to a closure as soon as possible. Clearly, there'll be an announcement at the appropriate time. I've given my commitment to the board to work through a, you know, a transition process, and I, you know, remain committed to doing that.
Thanks, Bob. Then finally, you talked about if you don't sell Aussie Square, would you look at some JVs in to grow? You've done a good job on the funds management side to potentially put some assets into JVs and get some funds management fees if you don't sell Aussie Square.
Yeah, that is certainly an option, but I would say at the moment, capital just generally is still sitting on the sidelines. That is something that we would like to have pursued even this year, but we've found that capital is still very cautious and sitting on the sidelines. It is an opportunity for us when I think, you know, you see cap rates and bond yields settle. I think that is an opportunity for us to explore.
All right, great. Thanks, Bob and team. Appreciate it.
Thank you.
Thank you. Your next question comes from James Druce from CLSA. Please go ahead.
Good morning, Bob and team. Just following up on Caleb's question around the increase to retail NOI of AUD 15.5 million. Is there anything else in there? Is there any pickup in an ancillary income that we should be thinking about?
First, do you want to say that?
Hmm. James, predominantly, the results come up from the, the performance of Melbourne Central and the recovery. Almost 50% of that's coming out of Melbourne Central.
Okay, and that's okay. All right, that's clear.
You know, Melbourne Central, I think we've got 3 or 4 vacancies now, and this time last year, I, I can't remember, but it was, it was, it was quite elevated and, you know, we were going through a. It, it was rebuilding, but it was, you know, foot traffic was still lower. It's all, you know, going very well now. You're, you're back to, 3, 4 vacancies in the center, and, clearly, that's, led to a stronger NOI performance out of the asset in the first half.
Yeah, okay. All right, that's clear. Can you talk about any month-to-month sales trends that you're seeing in that, that final quarter for, for June?
Sort of follow on from Grant's question.
James, from a month-to-month perspective, the second quarter was slower than the first. As I said, we ended the second quarter at 8% up, and June was 5% up. As I did mention, July is looking to be, from what we see today, flat on where we were last July. Last July was the highest performing, highest comping month of 2022. A flat result is still positive in my mind.
Yeah. Okay. Thank you.
Thank you. Your next question comes from Alex Prineas from Morningstar. Please go ahead.
Thank you. Just on the, the retail portfolio, I'm just interested in, you know, the sensitivities there if we did see, you know, a deeper recession. Can you comment on things like, you know, lease expiries over the next 18 months, sales-based rent, and maybe the, the strengths of the balance sheets of the tenants? Yeah, how, how sort of sensitive is that portfolio looking? You know, maybe compared to how it's, has performed in, in previous recessions.
Chris, would you like to take that? Alex, thank you. Maybe just deal with the lease expiry first. We average around about 15% of the portfolio comes up each year. Our WALE is around about 4 years. Next year we do have a bit of an elevation of about 20%, and that's because of some of the COVID renewals are coming off next year. I can tell you where we are today, we've, you know, very high occupancy and very strong leasing demand. I'd treat that 20% as an opportunity for us, compared to a, a stabilized year. Sorry, Alex, the, the second half of the question?
Uh, can't-
Just, sales-based rents and the, the strength of, balance sheets of the tenants.
Yep. Sales-based rents certainly, certainly not as-- That's not how our portfolio is, is made up. All of our assets, all of our centers, all of our leases have a fixed % escalation, so we don't really rely on sales-based turnover. Obviously we do benefit when we have extremely strong sales, which we have had for the last 18 months. I think the last question was in relation to the health of the, the, the retailers today, and two things. You know, as I said, they've had exceptionally long, strong sales over the last 18 months. They've enjoyed high inflation. They've been able to pass their costs on to the consumers. We've actually had three years of sort of elevated profitability, and I think that leading into some slowdown will put them in, in reasonably good shape.
Thank you.
No problem. As well, I should say, sorry, Alex, we've pretty low occupancy costs today at about 15.7%. In general, Thank you, in much better shape than when they came into COVID, to be quite frank. We're continuing... We're optimistic about a softish landing for the economy in Australia. We think given house prices, you know, seem to have stabilized, unemployment remains low. There's a number of factors there that we think retail will continue to perform well for us.
Thank you. Your next question comes from Lauren Berry from Morgan Stanley. Please go ahead.
Oh, good day, guys. It's Simon Chan here. I've got an elementary question. If I look at the balance sheet, the other receivables number has come off from AUD 175 million 6 months ago to AUD 57 million. I'm sure there's a reason for that movement. Can you explain, please, Anastasia?
Yeah, sure. We have had a few sites out at Rouse Hill and at Sydney Olympic Park that have been the subject of a New South Wales Government compulsory acquisition program. Some of those sites have settled in full, and some of them we've received 90% of the proceeds. That was flagged at the beginning of the year when we said we had a further sale proceed coming in of just over AUD 300 million. Because it was a compulsory acquisition, it moved from investment property at the time the government gazetted the purchase to other receivables, and then we've since collected cash.
Okay, that makes sense.
Paid 90% because we are challenging some of the assumptions on a couple of evaluations, so.
Okay, cool. Just one more on retail leasing. 343 deals completed. How many of those were Melbourne Central?
Thanks, Simon. That is a very good question. The deals that we completed at Melbourne Central for the year is at 52 of the 340.
Okay, terrific. Thanks, guys. That's all I got.
Thank you.
Thank you. There are no further questions at this time. I'll now hand back to Mr. Johnston for closing remarks.
Thank you, and thanks, everyone, for joining to the call. We will catch up with many of you guys over the next few days, and I'm sure you'll have more questions for us at that time. Thanks, everyone, for joining the call, and we look forward to speaking to you then.
That does conclude our conference for today. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect.