Good morning, everyone, and welcome to GPT's Interim Results Briefing. I do hope you're all safe and well. I'd like to commence by acknowledging the traditional custodians of the lands on which our business and assets operate, and pay my respects to elders past, present, and emerging. Joining me for today's briefing are Anastasia Clarke, our Group CFO, Matt Faddy, Head of Office and Logistics, Chris Barnett, Head of Retail, and Nick Harris, Head of Funds Management. As usual, we will take your questions at the end of the presentation. Unfortunately, we are not all in the same room together, so hopefully we don't have any technology hiccups this morning. We commenced the year with strong momentum as the economy bounced back and business and consumer confidence lifted. This was reflected in a strong recovery in retail sales and rent collections during the half.
Retail leasing activity during the period was the strongest it has been for some time, as retailers expanded their physical store networks and launched new brands. We also saw encouraging levels of office inquiry, particularly from technology and services companies. This was more evident in Sydney, where physical occupancy in office buildings was recovering before the recent lockdowns were imposed. Both investor and occupier demand for the logistics sector was very strong, and we continued to build out our development pipeline and secure new opportunities in this sector. Clearly, from late June, measures to contain the Delta variant of COVID-19 across the eastern seaboard states changed operating conditions, and as a result, we found it was appropriate to withdraw FFO and distribution guidance for the year. As I'm sure most of you are aware, the Victorian and New South Wales governments have now reintroduced the code of conduct.
The code requires landlords to provide rental relief to eligible SME tenants, proportionate with the reduction in their turnover. 50% of the relief is to be provided in the form of a rental waiver and 50% is to be deferred. Clearly, we will work with our tenants to provide relief as required. Given the momentum we saw in the first half, we remain confident we will see a strong recovery once restrictions are again lifted. Turning now to an overview of our results on slide five. FFO per security for the period was up 24.6% to AUD 0.156 per security. The interim distribution is AUD 0.133 per security, this represents approximately 100% of free cash flow.
NTA at June 30 was up 5.2% from December to AUD 5.86 per security. This was driven by revaluation gains, mainly from our logistics and office portfolios. The total return for the 12-month period to 30 June was 10.2%. Turning now to valuations on slide six. We had the majority of our assets independently valued at the half, resulting in a revaluation gain of AUD 472 million. There has been strong levels of transaction activity over the last six months, particularly for office and logistics assets, and this has provided valuers with strong levels of market evidence. GPT's office portfolio recorded a valuation increase of 2.2%, with the completion of 32 Smith, along with leasing activity across our Sydney assets driving this uplift.
The weighted average cap rate was 4.87%, which is in line with December 2020. Valuers have softened near-term growth rates and increased incentives in the recent valuations. This has been offset by a slight firming of discount rates consistent with market transaction evidence. The revaluation gain for our logistics portfolio was AUD 315 million, which is a 10.6% uplift. Given the investment appetite for the sector, valuation metrics continue to firm with the portfolio weighted average cap rate now 4.38% and the discount rate tightening to 5.81%, which as you can see on the slide, is the lowest across each of our sectors. In retail, valuations were stable for the period following the declines recorded in 2020. Valuers continued to include stabilization allowances for COVID-19 impacts.
Low interest rates and expectations of a sustained economic recovery continued to underpin valuations for high-quality assets, with the direct market willing to look through any short-term weaknesses. While COVID-19 is creating near-term uncertainty, we remain focused on executing on our strategic priorities. Our logistics portfolio has grown to AUD 3.4 billion in value and now represents 23% of GPT's overall diversified portfolio. This will increase further as we deliver our development pipeline and commit additional capital to the QuadReal partnership. The partnership initially targeted an AUD 800 million capital allocation. This has now been increased to AUD 1 billion. The QuadReal partnership not only leverages our logistics platform, also provides growth in our funds management earnings.
We have ambitions to further grow our funds management business. Our relationships with institutional investors remains very strong. The GPT Wholesale Office Fund, GWOF, has a substantive development pipeline that will provide meaningful growth into the future. We completed the 32 Smith office development in Parramatta and GWOF's Queen and Collins development in Melbourne. Both of these assets have set new standards in their respective markets, and we are particularly pleased with the leasing activity at Queen and Collins, as we've only recently been able to showcase the asset. We will also commence GWOF's 29,000 sq m office development at 51 Flinders Lane in Melbourne in the fourth quarter of this year. The asset will provide a unique offering to the market when it is complete in late 2024.
We have advanced our plans for the mixed-use development at Rouse Hill, including updating the scheme to reflect the changes that have been accelerated since the emergence of COVID-19. We are targeting to commence the development next year. We also continue to focus on building deep customer relationships and putting the customer at the center of everything we do. Customer engagement is providing rich insights into the services and propositions our customers are seeking, ensuring we differentiate our offer to match the changing expectations. This is influencing not only our development project, but also the investments we are making across our portfolio. Underpinning our growth objectives are our strong balance sheet and our leading capabilities in ESG. As I've communicated previously, we have an ambitious target in place for all our managed assets to be operating carbon neutral by the end of 2024.
We have a proven pathway to achieve this goal, with GWOF being globally recognized for its carbon neutral achievement in 2020. As you can see from slide eight, GPT is recognized as a global sustainability leader, evidenced by our continued strong performance in leading ESG benchmarks from GRESB, S&P, and ISS. Our focus is on achieving measurable outcomes through reducing energy intensity of our assets, generating on-site renewable energy, purchasing green power, and investing in local biodiversity offsets for any residual emissions that cannot be mitigated. We're also recognized as an employer of choice for gender equality by WGEA. Our employees live our values, shape our culture, and contribute to our shared success. Our stakeholders highly value our social and community programs, including our Stretch Reconciliation Action Plan and the support we provide to charities through The GPT Foundation.
Despite the challenges of COVID-19, we have continued to ensure we provide community support through leveraging our people and our assets. I will now hand over to Anastasia Clarke to provide you with further details on our financial performance for the half, and I will return at the end of the presentation for my closing remarks.
Thank you, Bob, and good morning. I'm going to start on slide 10, where I'm pleased to be reporting far stronger financial results for the six months to 30 June 2021 in comparison to this time last year. Whilst the COVID-19 pandemic is still with us, we have a track record now of the rebound that will come when restrictions are lifted and which is evident in this period's financial results. Our statutory profit of AUD 760.5 million for the half is a significant improvement on last year's result for June 2020. This is driven by stronger Funds From Operations and valuation increases, particularly from the logistics portfolio. Funds From Operations is AUD 302.3 million, delivering an increase on the comparable first half of 23.6%.
FFO per security is AUD 0.1564, delivering enhanced growth of 24.6% due to our on-market security buyback from April to June of 1.7% of securities, costing AUD 146.8 million at an average security price of AUD 4.54, being a discount to NTA of 22.5%. The strength in our result becomes even more pronounced in the 43% growth in our distribution per security of AUD 0.133, representing a 99.9% payout of free cash flow, which was underpinned by strong cash collections from across our portfolio. Looking to each portfolio's performance now on slide 11 in the segment result. Retail profit of AUD 140.8 million has recovered 77.8% of the impacts brought about by COVID-19 last year. Cash collections of 104% over the six months resulted in reduction of outstanding tenant debts from 2020, with AUD 22 million remaining to be collected.
Office contributed AUD 134.5 million, delivering 1.8% growth on a like-for-like basis, which is a good result given the current level of vacancy in the portfolio. The overall result is down 3.9% due to the divestment of Farrer Place. Logistics contributed AUD 75.5 million with growth of 17% resulting from additions to the investment portfolio, both completed developments and acquisitions. The funds management profit of AUD 23.9 million was slightly down on last year, reflecting the valuation decline of the shopping center fund in 2020. Finance costs reduced almost 10% to AUD 44.3 million, in line with savings of 40 basis points in the weighted average cost of debt to 2.7%. Corporate overheads of AUD 28.1 million have normalized post last year's savings from withdrawal of variable remuneration schemes and support from JobKeeper. Costs have also increased in 2021 from higher D&O insurance premiums.
We continue to be disciplined and targeted with our maintenance CapEx that has reduced to AUD 12.9 million this half. Lower leasing volumes in Office and Logistics have resulted in reduced lease incentives to AUD 23.1 million. For both maintenance CapEx and lease incentives, we expect these to normalize in line with the economic recovery. Overall, our strong results have delivered a 35% increase in AFFO.
Turning to slide 12, capital management, where the balance sheet remains very strong. NTA has increased to AUD 5.86 per security, being 5.2% growth since 31 December 2020. Most of this growth is due to the strong asset revaluations, primarily from the Logistics portfolio. Gearing remains low at 24.5%, providing significant investment capacity for growth. There are no material loan expiries for the group until 2023. We retain significant liquidity of AUD 1.3 billion to fund growth opportunities.
Our incremental cost of debt, all-in, is circa 1.5%, and we estimate our average cost of debt for 2021 to reduce to approximately 2.5%. Our view is that the RBA is committed to an extended period of low interest rates, and therefore, we continue to hold hedging toward the lower end of our target range at 60%, for a shorter duration of approximately two years. To conclude, our balance sheet is in excellent shape and positions us well to fund our strategic growth plans. For an update on our office and logistics operations, I'll now pass you to Matthew Faddy.
Thank you, Anastasia. Our high-quality AUD 5.8 billion office portfolio has delivered FFO of AUD 134.5 million in the half, with like-for-like growth up 1.8%. The portfolio has a WALE of five years, and we have continued to achieve pleasing leasing outcomes, with 38,000 square meters of leases signed in the period. Occupancy for our stabilized assets is currently 92%. A valuation uplift of 2.2% has been delivered in the half, with the weighted average capitalization rate firming to 4.87%. Our sustainability leadership position in the Australian office sector has been further reinforced with the completion of 32 Smith and Queen and Collins. These developments have achieved 6-star Green Star design ratings and expand GPT's prime office holdings in the core markets of Sydney and Melbourne. We saw leasing momentum build in the first half with positive jobs data and levels of tenant inquiry supported by rising business confidence.
While this has been interrupted by the reimposition of government restrictions, we continue to negotiate with existing and new tenants across our portfolio as occupiers look beyond the current restrictions to the expected economic rebound. Turning to slide 15. Leases have been signed across 38,000 sq m in the first six months of the year, with a further 23,000 sq m at heads of agreement. Momentum has continued into the second half, with 51,000 sq m of advanced negotiations across vacancy and future expiries. Sentiment in the Sydney CBD was positive in the first half, with increased activity from tech groups and smaller occupiers. This is demonstrated by 40 deals achieved in our Sydney CBD portfolio at an average size of 580 sq m. This market also saw a reduction in sublease availability during the half. The Melbourne CBD was impacted by the lockdowns.
However, government and technology tenants have remained active. Queen and Collins has been well received by the market, with deals agreed with a number of tech occupiers and additional negotiations underway. As you can see on the charts, GPT has sustained occupancy well above the market average over the long term. We are making good progress in reducing vacancy and upcoming expiry. Moving now to development. During the period, we concluded two projects, the first being 32 Smith in the Parramatta CBD. This asset has achieved a 6-star Green Star design rating and has been operating on a carbon neutral basis from its first day of operation. Leasing is 75% progressed, with QBE anchoring the development. At June 2021, the project was independently valued at AUD 325 million, which is well ahead of feasibility commencement, with a development margin of greater than 25%.
We also completed the redevelopment of Queen and Collins in Melbourne during the period. Held within the GPT Wholesale Office Fund, this exciting project incorporates a 34-level tower integrated with heritage buildings fronting Collins Street. Leasing is progressing well, with 41% of the office space now committed. This asset appeals to modern occupiers attracted by the unique building amenity, comprehensive customer service offering, and the exciting new space on demand concept. Moving to slide 17. We are progressing our AUD 3.5 billion development pipeline across the eastern seaboard. These projects provide a pathway to growth from within our existing portfolio, unlocking opportunities on sites held by the group. In Melbourne, the 51 Flinders Lane development will commence in the fourth quarter of this year.
This exciting tower design will provide 29,000 sq m across 650 sq m floor plates, being a unique offer that will target smaller boutique occupiers in the east end of the city. We are also seeking pre-commitments for 300 Lonsdale and Cockle Bay Park in parallel to progressing project milestones. Turning to slide 18. We continue to engage closely with our customers as new workplace trends emerge. During the first half, through surveys and conversations with customers, we are gaining insights into how they are thinking about the office of the future. These insights are guiding our teams in prioritizing customer-centric investments that drive higher occupancy and rent outcomes. We are engaging with customers to reduce pain points, such as simplifying lease documentation and providing spaces where a fit-out has already been constructed.
Over several years, we have invested in creating furnished and fitted office suites to provide a ready-to-move-in solution for office users, and we are accelerating this to target smaller and growing occupiers. We are also leveraging our flexible workspace offering, Space&Co, to facilitate leasing transactions, support project teams, and to incubate growing businesses. Our sixth Space&Co venue opened at 32 Smith in Parramatta during June. Business lounge and collaboration facilities are also being expanded, along with healthy building upgrades, including up-specification of air filtration and touch-free lift and access to buildings. Now to slide 19. Our team remains focused on delivering returns from our prime portfolio, demonstrated through a 12-month total return of 7.6% being achieved. With AUD 13.3 billion of assets under management, we attract a diverse range of customers, including finance and insurance, global tech, and professional services organizations.
The quality of that tenant base is demonstrated with 100% of 2021 net billings being collected in the first half. We saw positive indicators in the first half, with strong jobs growth supported by rising business confidence. While this has been interrupted by the reimposition of government restrictions, we expect the positive momentum of the first half to reemerge as restrictions unwind. Now to logistics. Our portfolio has delivered excellent results in the first half, with FFO up 17%, reflecting growing contributions from development completions and acquisitions. Investor demand for logistics remains strong, resulting in a firming of the weighted average capitalization rate for GPT's portfolio to 4.38%, reflecting the modern nature and distribution center focus of the portfolio. The sector has also experienced robust demand from tenants, with levels of take-up well above average across the eastern seaboard, resulting in low vacancy rates in core markets.
Four acquisitions have been secured and one development project completed, totaling AUD 350 million. We have a further AUD 170 million of developments that are on track to be completed in the second half. A 12-month total return of 24.2% has been achieved, with the portfolio growing 13% to AUD 3.4 billion, and now makes up 23% of GPT's investment portfolio.
Moving to slide 22. During the first half, the group completed a AUD 51 million facility at Glendenning in Western Sydney that is leased to Total Tyres for a 10-year term. We have also secured two acquisitions in Melbourne that will complete from 2022, both being held within the GPT QuadReal Logistics Trust, of which GPT holds a 50% share. The land bank has also been expanded with parcels for future developments secured in Kemps Creek and Wacol. These four acquisitions will have an end value of AUD 370 million on completion.
Earlier this month, an additional eight-hectare land parcel was secured at Crestmead in Brisbane. The site provides capacity for 40,000 sq m across two facilities with an end value of AUD 90 million once complete. Turning to slide 23. Our growing portfolio is made up predominantly of distribution centers, warehouses, and cold storage that attract high caliber tenants. With more than 90 customers, over 70% of income is generated from ASX-listed groups and multinationals. These include many well-known retailers and 3PLs such as Coles, Linfox, Toll, and DHL. The existing portfolio is augmented by the pipeline and land bank, providing opportunities to expand our footprint and provide coverage to grow with the customers across core markets.
Turning to development. We have four projects totaling AUD 170 million on track to complete in the second half. The latest stage of our Wembley Business Park estate was delivered in late July. Heads of agreement are in place with two groups across the facility. Works are also underway at our other Brisbane project in Wacol, with practical completion expected in the fourth quarter. In Melbourne, we have two facilities due for completion at our Gateway Logistics Hub estate, with one of these pre-leased to e-commerce retailer, The Hut Group. The second 24,000 sq m facility has a heads of agreement in place with a national third-party logistics operator.
Moving to slide 25. We are progressing our Yiribana Logistics Estate project in Kemps Creek, with the first facility to be delivered in 2022. The Kemps Creek precinct is set to become Western Sydney's next preeminent logistics destination, in close proximity to key infrastructure investments, including the future Western Sydney Airport. As I mentioned earlier, we secured an adjacent site on Mamre Road in the half. The combined scheme will now deliver 182,000 sq m of product with an end value on completion of AUD 600 million.
Now on slide 26. Our AUD 1.4 billion development pipeline provides capacity to create product totaling approximately 690,000 sq m. The pipeline provides coverage across core industrial precincts in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane, with a diversity of facility sizes on offer. Consistent with our recently completed projects, we continue to target a yield on cost of over 5% for our developments. In addition to the four projects that are due to be completed in the second half, we plan to commence further projects this year. Turning to the outlook for the GPT Logistics Segment. Our portfolio of modern, well-located assets are delivering an attractive cash yield with low maintenance CapEx requirements.
Growth in e-commerce, urbanization, supply chain investments, and infrastructure upgrades are tailwinds for the sector, resulting in strong levels of tenant demand and low vacancy rates of sub 2% in both Sydney and Melbourne. The GPT Logistics team have demonstrated the ability to consistently grow the high-quality portfolio through development and selective acquisitions. Our land bank provides control of the development pipeline to secure future growth. We have clear pathways to grow assets under management from AUD 3.4 billion to over AUD 5 billion. In addition to the GPT Logistics land bank, further opportunities to acquire land and investment product are being pursued. I will now hand over to Chris Barnett to present the retail results.
Thank you, Matt, and good morning, everyone. For our retail business, the first half was pleasingly a story of rebound. Our assets continued to build momentum with positive sales growth when compared to our 2019 results. This has led to a renewed confidence in our retailers, resulting in a record level of leasing transactions. We finished the first half with higher portfolio occupancy at 98.9%. We had a lower level of vacancies, we had a lower number of holdovers, and we've improved our leasing spreads when compared to previous reporting periods. This momentum is very encouraging. For our assets who are currently impacted by government restrictions, we are confident that as history has shown, they will rebound strongly as restrictions are eased.
In terms of our financial performance, the result was substantially up on the first half of 2020, given the reduction in COVID allowances and associated trading impacts from government restrictions. We independently valued 100% of our retail portfolio at 30 June, which has seen the stabilization of our asset values, evidenced by the overall portfolio delivering a positive revaluation. The specialty sales growth of 6.5% when compared to the first half of 2019, demonstrates the strength of the rebound and is a testament to how quickly our customers returned to our centers to shop, to dine, to be entertained, and enjoy the service and experience that they were truly missing during periods of restrictions. More so than ever, our centers are demonstrating their core alignment to the needs and wants of the Australian consumers.
Turning to leasing on slide 30. The first half of 2021 has been an exceptional period with record levels of leasing activity. Our leasing teams have been able to conclude more transactions in the first half of 2021 than we completed in the full year of 2020. The leasing activity has resulted in a solid improvement in our portfolio occupancy, now at 98.9%. Our vacancies and our holdovers are down, and we've considerably improved our leasing spreads. Importantly, all of our leasing deals remain structured with fixed base rents and annual increases now averaging 4.4%, and we've seen a return to longer tenure, with four and a half years being the average term for all deals completed. As shown on the slide, our leasing metrics have improved considerably since the December reporting period.
Now on to retail sales on slide 31. As seen on the graph, the strength of the sales recovery is evident when you compare this half to the first half of pre-COVID 2019. While these numbers exclude Melbourne Central, the sales growth is strong, with portfolio center sales up 5% and total specialties up 6.5% on 2019. At a state level, our New South Wales assets were the standout, up 5.9%, and Casuarina also performed well, up 4.8%, again, when comparing to 2019. Melbourne Central has benefited from the return of students and office workers during the first half of 2021. However, CBD recovery is still protracted. Looking at sales in more detail, while there are a few retail categories that are still being impacted by government restrictions, including cinemas and travel, of our major stores, discount department stores were the winners, with an exceptional performance up 13.5%.
It was our entertainment-based retailers driving the growth in the other retail category, up almost 24.5%, from brands like Timezone and Strike Bowling, again, emphasizing our customers craving these experiences outside of the home. Across the categories of general retail, leisure, and technology, the successful opening of new retail concepts like the LEGO Store have contributed to this higher sales growth, joining the powerhouse brands of JB Hi-Fi and Rebel. Importantly, our fashion category, which houses the majority of our omni-channel retailers, experienced a solid return to sales growth, up 6.9% for the half.
Turning to slide 32. Whilst online has certainly benefited during the periods of restriction, what is illustrated on the graph is that online remains a very small portion of total retail spend, and that physical retail sales continue to grow as customers return to our shopping at our assets. Evidence to this was Highpoint, where in April this year, being the first month where our portfolio was not affected by any government restrictions, the center was 9% up in total sales compared to April 2019. This was particularly pleasing given April was the first month without JobKeeper.
This is a clear indicator of the importance of the role of the physical store on how brands connect and transact with their customers. This was recently reinforced by an analysis from Urbis, which shows that physical stores facilitate over a third of all online transactions. We continue to see those retailers who have successful omni-channel networks winning customer preferences.
Now turning to slide 33. What is exciting about the high level of leasing activity is that we've transacted with over 90 new brands opening for the first time in a GPT center progressively throughout 2021. Retailers are continuing to grow their businesses with an increase in investment in new store concepts, as well as dominant brands up-weighting their existing footprints to create flagship stores. There are some examples shown on the slide across both Highpoint and Melbourne Central. This retailer remix is continuing to ensure our assets remain compelling for our customers and will deliver incremental sales, as well as contributing positive valuation growth.
Now to slide 34. Our portfolio includes some of Australia's leading retail assets that continue to provide opportunities for growth and outperformance. Rouse Hill continues to outperform, delivering an 11.3% total return for the last 12 months, maintaining 100% occupancy, and with our specialties enjoying double-digit sales growth, now trading at around AUD 11,000 a sq m. The asset's performance is underpinned by an affluent growth market and continued government investment in the region.
We remain committed to the development opportunities at Rouse, which will capitalize on the strong retailer demand and growth markets whilst delivering both additional retail GLA and residential apartments to the site. This will be a fantastic mixed-use development. We're currently working through authority approvals on a revised scheme and plan to commence the development in the second half of next year. Highpoint continues to reaffirm its positioning as one of the country's leading retail assets, dominantly located in the significant growth market of Western Melbourne. Over the last few years, there's been considerable repositioning investment, proactively rightsizing David Jones and Myer and replacing the existing Target store. These strategies have allowed us to introduce in-demand retail brands, like a new Kmart and a second full-line supermarket with Coles, in addition to Waterman co-working facility.
Highpoint will continue to evolve as a leading retail destination while also providing an additional investment pipeline to drive our performance. Last year, plans were lodged to secure mixed-use development opportunities on the center's significant land holdings. This will potentially result in an additional 150,000 sq m of commercial and residential space and create capacity for 7,000 residents and an incremental daytime population of 10,000 workers. Sunshine Plaza is well-positioned to capitalize from its dominant location in Southeast Queensland, benefiting from strong population growth and significant ongoing government investment in the Sunshine Coast. The asset is performing strongly post the major redevelopment, with center MAT growing to AUD 680 million and specialty sales up 20%. The sales growth and increase in customer visitation are fueling retailer demand as the asset continues to attract first-to-market retail brands, reaffirming its position as the leading retail asset in the region.
To slide 35. GPT has a high-performing retail portfolio with AUD 8.4 billion of assets under management, including some of Australia's most productive assets. The high level of leasing activity reinforces the demand by retail groups for physical store networks to transact with customers and to open new retail concepts. We've been on the front foot, responding to customer trends and investing in our assets to ensure they remain the preferred choice in their markets for both the customer and retailers. We remain excited about the opportunities to deliver on our mixed-use development strategies, which will only strengthen asset performance by providing incremental customers to our retail assets.
Whilst we navigate through this current period of uncertainty, we do anticipate a similar rebound as previously experienced once restrictions are eased. This will be assisted by favorable economic conditions, such as high levels of household savings and low interest rates, which provide ongoing support for the retail sector. To close, I'd like to thank the entire GPT retail team for their incredible efforts at ensuring our customers are welcomed in the most safest possible environment, allowing our retailers to thrive. I'd now like to hand over to Nick Harris to provide an update on our funds management business.
Thank you, Chris. Good morning, everyone. Our funds management platform has significant scale, with AUD 13.5 billion in assets under management and 70 institutional investors. We recorded 4.7% growth in assets under management over the past six months, driven by acquisitions in the GPT QuadReal Logistics Trust and the development progress in the GPT Wholesale Office Fund. Funds management has once again made a material contribution to the group, representing 7.9% of earnings for the period. As Bob mentioned earlier, we are pleased to have progressed our strategic capital partnership in logistics with QuadReal Property Group out of Canada. This partnership is consistent with our dual strategic priorities of growing the logistics portfolio and expanding our funds management platform while leveraging the group's extensive real estate capabilities. This is a new relationship with QuadReal and is our first foray in the logistics sector in funds management.
As at 30 June, we had committed AUD 346 million in this partnership, and it represents 3% of our assets under management in the funds management business, complementing our existing funds platform in the office and retail sectors. Turning to Slide 38. The GPT QuadReal Logistics Trust is a 50/50 partnership announced early this year to create a prime Australian logistics portfolio. We've already committed 53% of the initial AUD 800 million target across five deals in Melbourne and Brisbane. We are pleased to announce that this commitment has now been increased from AUD 800 million to AUD 1 billion. GWOF is the largest wholesale office fund in the Australian market, with a AUD 9.3 billion portfolio. The fund remains very attractive to domestic and global institutional investors due to its scale, high-quality assets, and ESG leadership, including having all of its assets operating carbon neutrally.
The fund's development pipeline is progressing well, with the completion of Queen and Collins in late June and the commencement of the new office development at 51 Flinders Lane later this year. In addition to these two Melbourne projects, GWOF has another four asset creation opportunities in planning stages on land it already owns in Sydney, Parramatta, and Brisbane. These existing development opportunities have an estimated end value of over AUD 3 billion and would increase the size of the portfolio by a third. The GPT Wholesale Shopping Centre Fund strategy is to create value and drive performance from the existing assets and from their land banks. A mixed-use strategy is being activated across the majority of assets. Chris has already outlined the exciting mixed-use potential at Highp oint.
Northland in Melbourne sits on a 19-hectare site where a plan is being progressed for a new inner-city community that could house some 3,500 residents and 6,000 workers adjacent to the Parklands and the La Trobe Education Precinct. Macarthur Square also has large land holdings of 26 hectares and is located in one of the fastest-growing regions in Sydney that is benefiting from major infrastructure investment. The Macarthur Master Plan could ultimately allow for some 7,000 residents and 10,000 workers. These mixed-use opportunities provide significant scope for adding value to the fund's portfolio over the longer term. In summary, we are well-placed to further expand our funds management platform with our focus on fully investing the QuadReal capital partnership in logistics and further progressing the development pipeline in GWOF. I will now hand back to Bob to provide his closing remarks.
Thanks, Nick. In summary, we saw a strong recovery in the first half, and this has been reflected in the FFO and distribution delivered over the period. Recent COVID-19 restrictions have obviously changed trading conditions, fortunately, our experience is that foot traffic and retail sales recover quickly when restrictions are lifted. Office leasing activity will also strengthen when businesses return to the CBD office environment. The focus from governments to accelerate vaccinations across the country is welcomed, as this should lead to a more sustained recovery and reduce the need for restrictive measures being in place for an extended period, as currently being experienced in Sydney. Continuing to grow our logistics portfolio through development and acquisitions is a priority for the group. We are of the view that the strength of demand in the sector will continue to be a tailwind for some time to come.
We have four logistics developments that will complete this half, and we will continue to accelerate the build-out of our logistics development pipeline over the next few years. Growing our funds management platform and capital partnerships also remains a focus for the group. The increased capital commitment for the QuadReal partnership provides further growth potential, and our office fund has a significant development pipeline that will be progressively delivered. We'll continue to drive leading performance in sustainability and deliver on milestones to achieve our industry leading 2024 carbon neutral target. Our balance sheet gearing remains modest, providing ample capacity to fund the group's development pipeline and other acquisition opportunities. Over the weekend, we secured an exclusive position to acquire a portfolio of long WALE logistics, industrial, and office assets for approximately AUD 800 million. We will commence a six -weeks due diligence period in the coming days.
An acquisition of the portfolio is consistent with our strategy to increase capital allocation to the logistics sector and provides the potential opportunity to expand our funds management platform in the future. I note there is no certainty at this stage that a transaction will be completed. The buyback we announced in February is not currently active, with our preference now to invest in the group's development pipeline and other potential growth opportunities that are consistent with our strategy. Given the ongoing uncertainty in terms of the duration and nature of the COVID-19 restrictions, we are not providing full year guidance today. I am confident that we will see a strong recovery and a return to the favorable trading conditions experienced in the first half once restrictions are lifted. That concludes our formal remarks. I'll now hand back to the operator for your questions.
Thank you. Your first question comes from Lou Pirenc of Jarden Australia. Please go ahead.
Yeah, good morning, Bob and team. A few questions from me. First of all, can you just talk a little bit about current trading, particularly in retail? I know we're only six or seven weeks into the lockdown, but just to give some indication about gross collection and what you expect this continues for the rest of the year.
Thanks, Lou. Were you asking about rent collection? Is that what you're asking about when you said trading?
Yeah, in retail particularly. Any kind of current trading around retail would be helpful. Sales, rent collection.
Yeah. Okay. Look, most of our centers are being impacted by COVID-19 restrictions, particularly New South Wales and Victoria at the moment. Only essentials can really trade out of our centers. We do have some stores, or quite a number of them, that are just doing click and collect as well. Clearly foot traffic, everything's quite low across the board. In terms of cash collection, you saw, I think we mentioned in the presentation, we did mention it was 81% was the cash collection from retail in the month of July. That clearly down from where we saw it in June and May, still it's nowhere near the lows that we saw when we first went into restrictions in 2020. It's a little bit premature to give you too much color on August.
Cash collections are coming in, but it's fair to say it's probably tracking a little behind where we were in July at the moment.
Great. Thank you. Secondly, just on this Ascot Capital due diligence, if you are successful, is that planned to go into the QuadReal partnership? How do you plan to fund that? Maybe linked to that is kind of, given the uncertainty that stops you from giving guidance, how comfortable are you or where are you comfortable to take your gearing?
First of all, we see the acquisition of the portfolio clearly in line with strategy for the group. It's a quality portfolio with a long WALE of nine years. It's got limited expiry over the next four to five years. What we see, it's got a very strong tenant covenant that sits behind it. Fixed increases are sort of 3.1%. There's a lot to be attracted to for the portfolio. We see it as a balance sheet acquisition rather than going into with QuadReal. The QuadReal partnership is much more focused on development-led opportunities. All the activity we've done with them has really been development-led to date, and we think that will continue to be the case with the QuadReal partnership. We're expecting for this to go on our balance sheet, this portfolio, if we do conclude the transaction.
Clearly, it'd be very accretive from an earnings perspective. We'll be funding it with debt. We'd expect the cost of that debt to be less than 2%. It'd be quite accretive. The average yield, initial yield for the portfolio would be 4.4%-4.5%. We're quite attracted to the portfolio.
Thank you.
Thank you. Your next question comes from Stuart McLean of Macquarie. Please go ahead.
Good morning. Thank you for your time. First couple of questions just on offer, so maybe for Matt. The 12% expiries by income in FY 2022 and 17% expiries in FY 2023, are you just able to discuss how you're looking to forward solve that today? It seems like that's a pretty big hurdle you need to get over in the next couple of years.
Thanks, Stuart. It's Matt Faddy here. With regard to the expiry that we have in 2022 and 2023, we are already actively working on those, as you would expect. We've already mentioned to the market that at Darling Park One, which is one of the expiries that are coming up at the end of next year, is one of three tranches that CBA occupy in that Darling Park precinct. We are well advanced, actually, in discussions with a potential tenant who will take out the majority of that 17,000 sq m. There's work still to go on that, we are seeing very good interest in that space. The other larger space is the QBE expiry at 60 Station Street in Parramatta. We have moved QBE from 60 Station Street into 32 Smith.
That lease doesn't expire until next year at 60 Station Street, but we have early access to that because they've now commenced operations at 32 Smith. The nine floors that we are taking back, we've leased one of those, and we've commenced our marketing campaign to see the rest of that space leased up as well. They're two of the larger spaces that we are looking to deal with. We're also in renewal discussions with a number of the other customers and tenants that are in the spaces, and we look forward to being able to provide some positive news on that over the next six months.
Okay. Thank you. Then maybe just also sticking with leasing conditions in the office. You said you're going to start launching 51 Flinders Lane. Is there a pre-commit there? Just given the limited lease up of 32 Smith Street or the other development, Queen and Collins, what gives you confidence that the market's there to launch a new office development?
Yeah. Thanks again, Stuart.
I'll maybe just start. Oh, sorry, Matt.
Sorry, Bob.
I'll start. It's a bit clunky. Sorry, guys. We are in different locations, all at home. Just on the Flinders Lane development, it will be speculatively developed. It doesn't finish until 2024. It's actually got quite a long duration build program. They're all quite small floor plates. What we're really seeing is that there is this strong inquiry from boutique firms, software companies, professional services firms, et cetera, all those smaller floor plates, and we're seeing quite a lot of demand. That's coming through in the leasing that we're doing at Queen and Collins. That gives us confidence that there is a deep enough market to actually progress this. Those sorts of tenants don't really commit until quite close to the end. We weren't trying to seek a large tenant pre-commit.
As I said, they're all smaller floor plates, and we expect to get that underway at the back end of this year and finishing in 2024. On our projections, we do think we'll see positive momentum in the office market well and truly by then.
Can I just maybe follow up on that positive momentum? Is that a comment on incentives, for example? Maybe another question there, do you think incentives have peaked and they'll start to trend lower from here? What's the outlook there on incentives? Thank you.
I'll ask Matt to answer that, please.
Thanks, Bob. Thanks, Stuart. We're seeing incentives in Sydney and Melbourne around that 32%-35%, Brisbane around 41%, which is consistent with where we have seen incentives over the past, well, eight months now. Face rents are holding, maybe even some upside in face rents. Our expectation as far as incentives are concerned across the markets, particularly Sydney and Melbourne, is that we expect vacancy to peak over the next six to 12 months. As vacancy starts to come back down, we're also expecting that incentives will follow suit and come back down as well.
Okay, recovery six to 12 months out. A final question from me, just on the logistics NPI. It was up 0.5%, I think half on the half. Acquired circa AUD 130 million of assets towards the back end of last year. There's been a little bit of development. Is the handbrake there just the occupancy move from 99%- 97% over the last six months? What's the outlook for occupancy, please? Thank you.
Thanks. Thanks again, Stuart. We have fixed increases through that portfolio of over 3%. There is the impact of the vacancy, which is predominantly two assets in Somerton, which we're in a joint venture on, and that's what's brought the like-for-like down to 1.8%. We do expect to see the Somerton lease up through the rest of this year. We are seeing very strong demand. Vacancy levels in Sydney and in Melbourne, as I said earlier, below 2%. Take-up is running double the 10-year average at the moment. We are seeing very strong demand. We expect occupancy will remain very high in our portfolio.
Thanks. Cheers .
Thank you. Your next question comes from Sholto Maconochie of Jefferies. Please go ahead.
Hi, everyone. Just a few follow-ups. It's a good result. Do you expect that given the lack of COVID impacts in the first half? I appreciate you withdrew your guidance. Can you give some color around what it means for you going into the second half in light of the Vic's code of conduct and more recently, New South Wales code of conduct on retail, given retail is still 30% of the portfolio with 41% in New South Wales and 44% in Vic. Sort of how that impacts your new year and what sort of assumptions you're assuming for assistance this year, if you can?
Thanks, Sholto. It's Bob here. I might just commence with a few comments, then I might ask Anastasia to speak to it as well. First of all, as you know, 60% of our business is in office and logistics, and we don't expect the COVID restrictions to have any material or significant impact on that. Clearly, it is sort of stopping some of the leasing inspections, et cetera, at the moment. That has slowed over the last few weeks. We are still seeing inquiry, but it's hard to get the inspections done, et cetera, at the moment. That has slowed a little, but we don't really see too much impact for those two sectors. It's really a retail sector that's going to be impacted. Well, it is being impacted.
Clearly, we saw rent collection fall in July as retailers were not trading and I guess concerned about what the outlook might be. It came down to 81%, as I mentioned before, and it's tracking a little lower again in August. What we are seeing is the government just on Friday in New South Wales announced the code of conduct, which does require landlords like ourselves to provide SME tenants, and SME is defined as less than AUD 50 million of turnover a year, provide them with a proportionate reduction in their rent. If they're down 30% in their turnover, you have to provide a reduction of 30%. That 30% is broken into a waiver of 15% and then a deferral of 15%. We are work...
Same as the previous code of conduct, basically.
Yes, it's very similar to that. We are able to offset in New South Wales up to the full amount of land tax. We're able to offset some of that against land tax. The government will give us some offset, but we're still working through that with our tenants at the moment.
Can I just give it to you? What do you pay on retail land tax typically in a given year?
Oh, I actually don't know that number off the top of my head. Do you, Anastasia?
Yes.
Retail land tax.
Land tax in retail, say, in Victoria, would be around AUD 2 million and similar level in New South Wales, just a little bit less because we haven't had the hikes that we've had in Victoria for land tax in retail. We'd expect it to be around AUD 2 million plus in New South Wales. To add to Bob's answer around withdrawal of guidance, it's really the uncertainty of the magnitude and duration of restrictions. We can't give a pinpoint type earnings growth guidance because we don't know what scale that will end up being. What we are very focused on is cash collection. As you can see, the 81% collection in July, slightly deteriorating in August as the lockdowns have deepened.
That's where we're very focused and much higher than what we experienced in Q2 2020, which was as low as 36%. That's our starting position. We absolutely are going to support our tenants. We want them strong and able to be open when the recovery reopening happens, and we've seen that. It's a short-term impact, but it does mean we had to withdraw guidance for the second half.
Understood. The AUD 50 million sounds a bit generous for an SME. It doesn't sound like an SME. On the next question. On this Ascot portfolio, if you just do the background, your gearing sort of goes to 28%, plus you've got obviously a bit of development CapEx that you're funding particularly industrial. Would you look at any asset sales you're flagging? I think you had a shopping center you're looking at, or could you elaborate on that? Are you comfortable with gearing going to the sort of high twenties, 30%? Can you elaborate on that?
Thank you, Sholto. We've always said that we have a gearing range of 25%- 35% and that we want to be using the balance sheet strategically for the business. We're very comfortable with moving into the midpoint of that range. We're not flagging any asset sales at the moment, put it that way.
Okay, great. Thanks so much for your time.
Thanks, Sholto.
Thank you. Your next question comes from Grant McCasker of UBS. Please go ahead.
Good morning. Just some questions on the retail portfolio. Did you collect any rent that you'd sort of impaired or written off in the prior year for this half or collected more rent than you'd anticipated?
I'll ask Anastasia just to answer that.
Thanks, Grant, for the question. We commenced the year with AUD 32 million outstanding debtors in retail from December 2020. We've obviously billed our gross rents to tenants, we've had to give some COVID relief. We've given AUD 11 million of COVID relief during the six months. Of the outstanding cash collectible, we've collected 104%. Overall, we've reduced our debtors by AUD 10 million of cash through that over collection, which is great. At 30 June, we have outstanding AUD 22 million to collect, which obviously we've turned our minds to impairment, et cetera, and we don't think it's a material number, and we do believe that's collectible.
Okay. Maybe can you give a bit of a guidance to say you gave High point as a case study to say things returned back to normal in April. How did the rental billings compare in April, say 2021 versus say 2019? I'm just trying to get an underlying run rate of, as things return to normal, what it looks like.
There's no difference other than the fixed rate rent increases, et cetera, and a bit of vacancy movement in April 2021 month versus April 2019. There is no COVID relief in that month.
Yeah, I guess what I'm trying to get at is, once you take into account a bit of vacancy, resetting of rents, trying to get an understanding of where the underlying run rates for retail could be sitting for an asset like that.
We would expect that we will get a full recovery on the retail income once we get back to full operating conditions. We've had some negative leasing spreads, but we are getting strong rent bumps still in our retail portfolio that is causing us to have our performance intact with what we were experiencing in 2019.
Okay. Excellent. Thank you.
Thank you. Your next question comes from James Druce of CLSA. Please go ahead.
Good morning, Bob and team. Just wanted to understand what market rent growth is in the industrial valuations at the moment, and can you contrast to that in what you're assuming for Ascot?
Yes, happy to do that. On our valuations page that we put in our slide deck, you can see what market rent growth is being used by the valuers. It's 3.2%, and the Ascot portfolio is similar. I think it was 3.1%, so it's very much in line with market rent growth.
Okay. In retail, you've done a lot of leasing this half. I'm just curious to see what incentives are doing and how much of the impact of incentives is coming through this half as opposed to coming through in the next half from an AFFO point of view?
Chris, would you like to just talk to that?
Yep. That's fine, Bob. Hello, James. Chris Barnett speaking. Leasing incentives for the half are slightly up. We've actually only given around about 40% of the transactions actually received any sort of lease incentive. We haven't given any leasing incentive to any tenants that have renewed. Of the 40% that we have given our incentives are averaging around about 20%.
Okay. The impact to AFFO, is that going to be more second half weighted?
I can answer that question if you like, Bob and Chris. It is quite even in retail, the impact to AFFO of incentives in first half to second half in our budgeted numbers.
Okay.
We do plan...
That's clear.
... We're doing in office in incentives to the second half.
Okay. That's clear. Thank you. Finally, just on Sholto's earlier question, can you just call out the percentage of income in the retail portfolio that SMEs comprise in Melbourne, Sydney, and maybe Brisbane as well?
Yes. I would say it's around 30% of our income comes from SMEs, less than AUD 50 million.
Is that...
Yes
... Consistent across geographies?
It's not 100% consistent across assets. Some are a little lower and some are a little higher rather than necessarily geography. If I just look at across the assets, it ranges between, I think, around low 30s and mid to high 37% or 38% or something like that. It just depends on the asset rather than geography, I think so, and the type of tenants we've got in them.
Okay. Fantastic. Thanks.
Rouse Hill probably has a little higher of SMEs, given it doesn't have the same level of anchors that other centers may have.
Okay. That's clear. Thanks very much.
Thank you. Your next question comes from Richard Jones of JP Morgan. Please go ahead.
Good morning. Just in terms of retail, are you able to give us an insight into what percentage of stores are currently trading and how that compares to March, April 2020?
Richard, it's Chris Barnett. I can answer that. In New South Wales and Victoria at the moment, obviously only essential retailers are trading, which is predominantly our supermarkets, pharmacies. Our cafes are allowed to trade for takeaway only. I think we're averaging around about 30%- 32% of our stores trading today. That's reflective in both New South Wales and Victoria.
Okay. Just on the spreads in the first half, obviously, being better than they were in 2020, is that reflective of a better mix of longer-term deals rather than more short-term deals that you did in 2020?
That's a good question, Richard. The spreads, I think, have been improved because of the leasing momentum. Certainly stabilized the decline that we had in the second half of last year. As you'd know, leasing spreads are all about demand and supply, and as our occupancy has improved, sitting at just under 99% today, that allows us to stabilize. Where we have more favorable spreads, sure, we're looking to push those into greater tenure and greater terms. I think our new leases, so tenants coming into the center on new leases, are averaging around about 5.3 years. Where we have more negative spreads, we look for shorter tenure across the portfolio. I think our renewals at the moment are averaging just under 4%. Four years, sorry. Four years. Mm-hmm.
Okay, that's great. Just final question. Just to add to that, sorry. I assume those numbers include Melbourne Central, is that right?
Yeah. It's on the 412 transactions that we've completed for the first half.
Yeah. Okay.
There have been a number of transactions at Melbourne Central as well, Richard, too.
Thank you. Sorry, final question. Just in relation to Rouse Hill, what are the internal hurdles required to kick that project off?
The first thing is that we are working through a revised scheme and submitting the development applications. That's the real key hurdle that we need to get through first. We are confident that the returns that we can generate out of that will certainly be acceptable. It's more us getting through, first of all, the revised DA. We have changed the scheme. It is a smaller retail footprint, a bit more mixed use with a bit more commercial and also more residential in the scheme now.
Okay, thank you.
Thank you. Your next question comes from Lauren Berry of Morgan Stanley. Please go ahead.
Hey, morning, everyone. Just on the office development pipeline. Clearly, you've built up a very big pipeline in GWOF and kicking off some of those now. How willing are your GWOF investors to fund this pipeline? If you're talking about growing it by 30% through developments, that seems like it's going to mean that developments is quite a large percentage of AUM in that fund. Are you able to just comment on that aspect, please?
Nick, would you like to speak to that, please?
Sure. It's Nick Harris. Thanks for that question, Lauren. With the pipeline, we have a capacity at any one time of 20% of development underway at any particular point in time, which the investors in GWOF are very comfortable with. With our gearing at 16.5%, also we have a lot of debt capacity in the vehicle as well. They're very supportive of the development. We have active engagement with the investor base. For the latest development, 51 Flinders Lane, we had very good support from our investor representation committee, where we consult with before we kick off any development as well.
Okay. Thank you. Just on the Rouse Hill residential, can you just talk about whether that will be on balance sheet or if you're looking to sell off those lots to third-party developers? Also, what you're thinking about profit recognition and timing of that project.
First of all, the mixed-use part of the scheme that we're looking to progress next year, it's all integrated, so we'll develop it and then sell down the product progressively as the developments are completed. What was the other part of your question, Lauren? It sort of broke up. I missed a little bit of it.
Just how you're thinking about profit recognition and timing.
Oh, right. In terms of timing.
Will this create development profits, or is it going to be more of that, yeah, profit recognition on settlement?
It'll be profit recognition on settlement. Yeah, they will generate development profits, when they're developed out and settled. That's for the integrated piece. Obviously, we've got additional development land, and we have sold some of that previously with DAs in place to other developers, and we've been able to recognize the uplift in the land on those. We haven't progressing any of those at the moment. It's more focused on the Rouse Hill expansion itself.
Sorry, just on the timing of profits, do you have a timeframe in mind?
Anastasia, are you able to answer that?
The potential settlement for the integrated residential, the profit will be in FFO, would more likely be approximately two years post-commencement. We're really talking maybe late 2024 and otherwise 2025.
Okay. Great. Thanks.
Thank you. Your next question comes from Adrian Dark of Citi. Please go ahead.
Good morning, Bob and team. My question was in relation to the shopping center funds. I think there has been some comments that the fund is pivoting to a mixed-use strategy. Could you just talk about what is driving that, please, and how it would be funded?
Nick, would you like to speak to that?
Yeah, sure. We've just finalized our strategy plan for the current year. What we're finding from investors, there's an appetite for more mixed use in the vehicle. Over time, we will have funding sources. We're potentially looking at some asset sales over time as well. Hopefully, in time, we will also get new equity with the backing of the investors.
Okay. In terms of those asset sales, is it, I think, the two that have been flagged previously?
Look, we've previously flagged that we've got some non-core assets, we're not going to comment on those asset sales at the moment. We do certainly have concrete plans going forward, which has been fully supported by our investor base.
Thank you.
Thank you.
There's no...
The next question.
Sorry.
All right, go ahead.
Sorry, it was Bob here. I just thought we may need to wind it up. Is there another question, was there?
The final question comes from Alex Prineas of Morningstar. Please go ahead.
Thank you. Yes, just on the industrial portfolio, you've traditionally done a fair bit of development there speculatively, which clearly has been a good decision given how strong the leasing has been in that space. Just wondering if that would continue to be your strategy there to do a lot of the development speculatively. If not, what kind of data points you'd be looking at in terms of either not developing and acquiring more in that space or perhaps doing it with pre-commitment?.
Thanks, Alex, for the question. I might just take it, and Matt, you can add if you want to at the end of it. First of all, we've developed a really good track record in the developments that we've been rolling out. There's been a number of them now over the last four or five years. A lot of it's been done speculatively, and typically we've been able to lease them up within, say, a month of practical completion, either side of that. You saw there's four developments that are underway currently that are being completed this half. Again, we've got very good momentum and traction with leasing up those assets as well. One of them was a pre-commitment, though, with The Hut Group, and we will look to do both. I certainly don't have any concerns about rolling out speculative developments.
We do need to continue to watch the market and where the demand is and the sort of product, but they're quite quick turnaround time from the time you activate the development, a particular facility, to when it's delivered. You've got pretty good line of sight how the market's tracking and what leasing inquiries there is. We're quite comfortable, but we'll continue to have a bit of a dual track process where I think both speculative and looking for pre-commitments for some of the larger facilities.
Thank you.
Okay. Well, if there's no further questions.
Thank you.
If there's no further questions, we might wind it up there.
Very much for those questions on time.
I'd like to thank you all for joining us this morning, and we do look forward to catching up with many of you in the coming days to talk about our results a little further. Thank you.