I would now like to hand the conference over to Mr. Peter Huddle, CEO and Managing Director. Please go ahead.
Good morning, and thank you for joining us for Vicinity Centres' results call for the 12 months ended 30th of June 2026. Joining me on today's call is Adrian Chye, our Chief Financial Officer. I will start today's presentation on slide five. FY 2026 was another year of important progress for Vicinity, with disciplined investment, capital allocation, and operational execution reflected in our financial results, portfolio metrics, and strengthened balance sheet. Our strategy remains clear: to own and operate premium and differentiated retail portfolio capable of delivering superior income and value growth through cycles. The structural conditions underpinning this strategy remain in place. Retail supply per capita continues to contract, and leading discretionary retailers are prioritizing high-quality, productive assets. In this context, we completed the AUD 625 million transformation of Chatswood Chase, with the asset now home to the largest and most compelling luxury offer in New South Wales outside Sydney CBD.
We have secured full ownership of Uptown. Having acquired the remaining 75% interest for AUD 212 million, Uptown is a landmark Brisbane CBD asset with significant growth potential. We acquired DFO Eastern Creek, increasing our exposure to Western Sydney's residential growth corridor and strengthening our established outlet operating platform, and we continued to recycle capital into assets with stronger growth prospects and clearer strategic relevance. Having entered into binding agreements for the divestment of Taigum Square for AUD 120 million only late last week, total assets divested in FY 2026 and FY 2027 to date comprise AUD 447 million. Adrian and I will cover the details shortly, but in summary, statutory net profit after tax was AUD 1.39 billion, up by nearly AUD 400 million.
Funds from operation increased to AUD 700.1 million, and on a per security basis reached AUD 0.1521 , which was at the top end of our guidance range of AUD 0.1500-AUD 0.1520 per security. The board declared a final distribution of AUD 0.0620 per security, bringing the FY 2026 distribution to AUD 0.1240 per security and representing a payout ratio of 95.5% of adjusted FFO. Supported by occupancy of 99.6%, positive leasing spreads of 4.2%, and disciplined property management, comparable NPI grew 4.2%. Our balance sheet strengthened further in FY 2026, with both headline and pro forma gearing remaining at the lower end of our target range. Meanwhile, AUD 2 billion of debt transactions were executed during the year, the outcomes of which materially increased our weighted average debt maturity from 3.8- 5.1 years and preserved our weighted average cost of debt at 5%.
Of particular note, NTA increased by AUD 0.19 or 7.7% to AUD 2.59 per security. By extension, we are pleased to report a total return of 12.8% for the year. Today's result represents the cumulative benefit of a portfolio we have been deliberately reshaping over several years, supported by favorable sector fundamentals. We have recycled capital from smaller, lower growth, and less strategically aligned assets and redeployed it into premium assets via targeted acquisitions and major developments. Premium assets comprise 67% of portfolio value, up from 51% in June 2022. The proof points that underpin our strategy remain. At 5.1% and positive 7.7%, comparable NPI growth and leasing spreads delivered by our premium assets remained well above the relevant portfolio averages, and specialty sales productivity of more than AUD 17,000 per square meter was more than 25% above the portfolio average.
The combination of several years of superior portfolio metrics is showcased by the NPI growth of 5.8% per annum delivered by our premium assets since June 2022 on a like-for-like basis. By extension, income has been the major impetus underpinning the 41% uplift in average asset values over the same period. Our strategy is fit for purpose, and our conviction remains anchored by the financial outcomes it is delivering. In this context, in a market where opportunities to add outlet exposure are limited, the acquisition of DFO Eastern Creek strengthens our outlet portfolio and increases our exposure to Western Sydney's growth corridor. While subject to receiving confirmation for the assignment of the ground lease, we will utilize our nomination provision to onsell the large format retail component on a pass-through basis for AUD 49 million.
By extension, the acquisition of DFO Eastern Creek settled on June 30, 2026, for AUD 351 million. DFO Eastern Creek combines everyday convenience with destinational outlet retail, and with its distinct catchment and customer profile, the acquisition complements DFO Homebush. Outlet retail is a format we know well, and we have a proven capability of acquiring, repositioning, and growing income over time. Since acquiring our 50% interest in DFO University Hill in 2020 and Harbour Town Gold Coast in late 2021, these assets have delivered NPI growth of 10.2% and 6.5% per annum respectively. At DFO Eastern Creek, we see clear scope to lift performance over time via targeted leasing, improved customer experiences, and operational efficiencies. What's more, in the more medium term, there is an additional 8,500 sq m of approved outlet expansion, which allows us to contemplate greater growth potential into the future.
Turning now to retail sales, which remain resilient. Over the year, more than 380 million customer visits to our assets underpinned annual portfolio sales of approximately AUD 18.4 billion, representing MAT growth of 3.3% at June 2026, which was 50 basis points higher than June 2025. Specialty and mini major sales increased by 4%, with all retail categories finishing the year in growth. While growth rates moderated, sales in the second half of FY 2026 were above the same period last year, despite the vastly different operating environments. While luxury sales moderated, as cost of living pressures impacted the aspirational customer, the category continues to enjoy exceptional productivity levels at around AUD 61,000 per square meter. Excluding luxury, specialty and mini major sales grew 3.5% in the second half. Finally, for the seventh consecutive six-month period, we delivered growth in specialty sales productivity, reaching AUD 13,512 per square meter in FY 2026.
Sales productivity is ultimately the output of strategic leasing, curating the right brands, formats, and customer offer across each asset, and the leasing outcomes this year show the strength of that execution. In this context, occupancy strengthened to 99.6%, representing less than one vacancy per center on average across our portfolio. Leasing spreads for the year were a positive 4.2%, our strongest annual result to date. Adding to this, average annual escalators were maintained at 4.8%, and reflecting retailer demand for space in an increasingly supply-constrained environment, average tenure on new deals completed increased to 4.6 years. At 14.4%, our specialty occupancy cost ratio remains healthy and continues to provide capacity for future rental growth where sales and retailer profitability support it. The proportion of income on holdover reduced to a record low of 1.5%, or just 92 stores, excluding sites strategically held for development.
Together, these metrics point to a healthier, more productive asset portfolio and to the value created when retailers use Vicinity's portfolio to enter, grow, and scale in Australia. That pathway often starts at Chadstone, then extends through our premium assets and over time into strong regional centers. This is especially evidenced by the proliferation of the number of mini major stores both across and within our portfolio in recent years. Since June 2019, average store sizes across the portfolio have increased by 19%. In some cases, high-performing specialty retailers expand into larger format stores to maximize sales potential. In other cases, both new-to-market and established retailers are using mini major stores to scale into additional assets. Our leisure, beauty, and lifestyle brands have led this shift, seeking larger formats to showcase broader ranges and immersive brand experiences.
The leasing outcomes are compelling, with mini major leasing spreads at 6.5% in FY 2026. This is not a one-year aberration. Leasing spreads for mini majors have tracked above the portfolio average for the last six consecutive six-month periods. With mini major sales growth tracking at 7.5% per annum since June 2019, the current and future upside potential is sustainable. I will hand the call to Adrian.
Thanks, Peter, and good morning. I will start on slide 12. Statutory net profit after tax for the year was AUD 1.391 billion, with AUD 700 million derived from FFO and AUD 691 million from statutory, non-cash, and other items, largely reflecting net property valuation gains. FFO increased 3.9% to AUD 700 million, and at AUD 0.1521, FFO per security was at the top end of our guidance range. Adjusting for one-off items and lower development-related loss of rent, FFO per security increased 4.1%. Reported NPI increased by 2.2%, with strong comparable NPI growth and development income partly offset by transaction impacts. On a comparable basis, NPI increased by 4.2%. Reflecting an improvement in occupancy, positive leasing spreads, and fixed annual escalators of 4.8% for specialty and mini major tenants. Our ongoing focus on cost management resulted in net corporate overheads increasing by only 1.6%.
Net interest expense reduced by 3.8%, primarily due to net proceeds from asset sales and the distribution reinvestment plan. This was partly offset by lower capitalized interest. Maintenance CapEx and leasing incentives at approximately AUD 100 million, was consistent with recent years. Turning now to valuations on Slide 13. The portfolio delivered a net valuation gain of AUD 293 million, or 1.8% for the six months to 30 June 2026, marking the fifth consecutive half of positive valuation growth. Income growth was the key driver, underpinned by enhanced portfolio quality and strong operating metrics. Outlets were the strongest contributors to income growth, led by DFO South Wharf and DFO Homebush. Overall, the weighted average capitalization rate tightened modestly by two basis points, supported by favorable retail sector fundamentals, together with sustained investor appetite for retail assets, providing transaction evidence across the full spectrum of retail asset segments.
Positive valuation growth supported an increase in net tangible assets per security, up 2.8% in the second half of FY 2026 to AUD 2.59. On a full year basis, the net portfolio valuation gains were AUD 700 million, contributing to a AUD 0.19 or 7.7% increase in NTA. Looking ahead, Vicinity's enhanced portfolio quality, resilient income growth, and supportive sector fundamentals provide a strong platform for continued positive valuation outcomes. Turning now to capital management. Maintaining a conservative and disciplined approach to capital management while preserving the flexibility to invest through the cycle remains central to Vicinity's strategy. We continue to actively manage our capital, deploying approximately AUD 900 million of capital into development projects and strategic acquisitions, and divesting AUD 447 million of assets and raising AUD 192 million via the DRP. At 30 June, our gearing was 26.1%.
Adjusting for the settlement of the Uptown acquisition and Taigum Square sale, pro forma gearing is 26.5% and remains at the lower end of our 25%-35% target range, providing ongoing flexibility for future investment opportunities. We also maintained our investment-grade credit ratings of A stable from S&P and A2 stable from Moody's. During the year, we capitalized on supportive credit market conditions, raising AUD 732 million through 10-year debt capital markets transactions. This included a AUD 500 million 10-year AMTN, as well as Hong Kong dollar private placements. Pricing was favorable, and investor appetite for longer tenors supported a meaningful extension in weighted average debt maturity to 5.1 years from 3.8 years at June 2025. We also extended and repriced AUD 1.2 billion of bank facilities, reducing interest cost and further strengthening the debt maturity profile.
Our weighted average cost of debt was 4.98%, and the average portion of hedged debt over FY 2026 was around 90%, and our forecast for FY 2027 is 87%. With AUD 800 million of undrawn debt facilities, we retain sufficient liquidity to cover all FY 2027 funding requirements. The DRP will remain active for the FY 2026 final distribution, supporting continued capital flexibility. Thank you. I'll now hand back to Peter.
Thanks, Adrian. Turning to our developments. FY 2026 marked a defining milestone for Chatswood Chase with the completion of the AUD 625 million transformation, including the opening of the luxury precinct from April 30. The project has repositioned Chatswood Chase as Northern Sydney's preeminent retail destination, bringing together global luxury Maisons, international icons, premium Australian designers, elevated dining, fresh food, and bespoke customer services. Following the successful opening of the luxury precinct, Chatswood Chase has since welcomed Tiffany & Co., Dolce & Gabbana, Hermès, Rolex, and Cartier, further endorsing the asset's luxury repositioning and reinforcing its position as home to the largest and most compelling luxury offer in New South Wales outside of the Sydney CBD. While it's still early days, performance has been encouraging, with the quality of the new offer resonating with customers and retailers.
From an investment perspective, we're especially pleased to share that expected returns from the project have increased. The stabilized yield is now expected to be around 6.7%, up by approximately 70 basis points, with an unlevered IRR of around 11%, up by approximately 100 basis points. Upon stabilization, Chatswood Chase should be valued at approximately AUD 1.5 billion, translating to an estimated development profit of more than AUD 250 million. With Chatswood Chase now complete, the next major milestone in our development pipeline is Galleria, which is entering its final stages ahead of opening in November, in time for the important Black Friday and Christmas trading period. The project will elevate Galleria's role as a leading retail, dining, and entertainment destination in Perth's northeastern growth corridor, with a revitalized mall, new leisure and dining precinct, state-of-the-art cinema, and enhanced customer experience.
With 98% of leases instructed, we're pleased to announce the retailer lineup, which comprises a strong mix of national and international brands. Alongside longstanding partners, including a refurbished Coles and Myer stores, Galleria will welcome Hoyts, Mecca, JD Sports, JB Hi-Fi, Oroton, and Victoria's Secret. Like Chatswood Chase, this project is expected to exceed original return expectations, with a stabilized yield of around 6.25% and an unlevered IRR of approximately 11.5%. As Galleria nears completion, our preparation for the redevelopment of Uptown accelerate. With full control of this landmark Brisbane CBD asset now secured, the opportunity is to create a complete full-line retail asset. Our plans for Uptown will address a clear gap in Brisbane's CBD retail offer and will naturally complement our luxury proposition at Queens Plaza.
Our plans include a major repositioning of the retail asset, upgraded services, contemporary ambiance, and improved customer amenity, which is appropriately adjacent to major infrastructure upgrades in the Brisbane CBD. We are progressing authority approvals presently, and we anticipate a project cost of between AUD 350 million and AUD 400 million. Our expected project returns remain unchanged, with a stabilized yield of greater than 6% and an unlevered IRR of greater than 10%. From a delivery perspective, the project is well advanced, with dedicated organizational capability deployed, positive engagement with local and state governments, and Hutchinson Builders engaged through a pre-construction process. Chadstone continues to evolve as Australia's leading retail destination and one of the country's most compelling retail-led mixed-use precincts.
With more than 22 million customer visits each year, Chadstone provides an unmatched stage for leading brands to invest in flagship experiences, showcase their best concepts, and connect with customers at scale. The luxury precinct is now entering its next phase of development, with Louis Vuitton, Dior, Hermès, and Fendi investing in larger formats to showcase broader ranges and deliver more immersive brand experiences. Together, these Maisons will occupy around 3,000 sq m of space at Chadstone, an increase of approximately 80%. As we maintain continuous trade for these retailers and their clients, construction is underway, with openings planned from mid 2027. Beauty and wellbeing powerhouse Mecca is also investing in a new 2,400 sq m next-generational store, almost tripling its current footprint.
Opening in time for Christmas, the store will showcase more than 200 brands, offer over 50 bookable beauty services, and bring Mecca's latest beauty and wellbeing concepts to Chadstone. Importantly, our development approach is not limited to large-scale transformations or premium assets. Building on recent examples this fiscal year, including the repurposing of the former David Jones space at Mandurah Forum and the new Uniqlo flagship at Emporium Melbourne, are important projects at Grand Plaza in Queensland and Castle Plaza in South Australia. At Grand Plaza, we are repurposing the former cinema space to introduce a new Rebel alongside an upgraded food and dining offer, with completion expected in the fourth quarter of FY 2027. At Castle Plaza, we are replacing the former IGA tenancy with a new full-line Woolworths supermarket together with a number of new specialty stores.
We expect to complete the works in the third quarter of this fiscal year. Taken together, these projects demonstrate the breadth and discipline of our development program. From major transformations at Chatswood Chase and Galleria to the next phase of investments at Chadstone and Uptown and targeted projects at Grand Plaza and Castle Plaza, our focus is consistent. We are allocating capital to assets where we see pathway to stronger income, improved market position, and long-term value creation. That also means upgrading the customer proposition, supporting the expansion of plans of leading retailers, and enhancing asset quality in a way that delivers compounding returns over time. We look forward to sharing more detail on our development pipeline at our capability showcase in mid-September. Turning now to mixed use. As we've said before, Chatswood Chase represents our most compelling near-term mixed-use opportunity.
As a reminder, the opportunity comprises 480 luxury apartments and represents a compelling value creation opportunity, leveraging the strength of the recently transformed retail asset and the quality of its surrounding catchment. Since our interim result announced in February, we have secured revised Housing Delivery Authority approval for residential tower height and residential connectivity into Chatswood Chase. We have received confirmation from the design review panel that the project demonstrates the potential to achieve design excellence, which is a major milestone. Community engagement was recently completed and by extension, our development application documentation is advancing with current timelines indicating authority approval being received in 2027. We continue to retain full strategic optionality as we evaluate funding and delivery structures that balance the realization of attractive returns with disciplined balance sheet management. Turning now to FY 2027 earnings guidance.
FY 2027 represents a meaningful inflection point for Vicinity as the benefits of our portfolio repositioning, discipline, capital allocation, and recent investment activity are expected to translate into a step change in our earnings growth profile. In this context, we expect FY 2027 FFO per security to be in the range of AUD 0.16- AUD 0.162, and AFFO per security to be in the range of AUD 0.139- AUD 0.141. This implies FFO per security growth of between 5.3% and 6.6%. The key assumptions underlying guidance are set out on this slide, and as always, our guidance remains subject to unforeseen circumstances and material changes in operating conditions. In closing, our FY 2026 results demonstrates that our investment strategy is clear, fit for purpose, and delivering tangible outcomes.
Vicinity is a stronger business than it was four years ago with a more productive, more clearly differentiated portfolio, clearer earnings growth pathways, and the balance sheet strength to support ongoing investment. As we look to FY 2027, we are confident in the elements we can control. Not only does a stronger than expected FY 2026 provide a stronger underlying earnings base in FY 2027, but Chadstone enters FY 2027 fully stabilized, Chatswood Chase contributes a full year of income, Galleria opens in November, and Uptown and DFO Eastern Creek provide income and future value potential. Meanwhile, the structural conditions underpinning our strategy also remain in place, with retail supply per capita continuing to contract and retailer demand prioritizing resilient and more productive assets. That said, we remain mindful of geopolitical uncertainty, potential shifts in household and financial conditions, and broader market volatility, and we continue to manage the business and allocate capital accordingly.
Taken together, our outlook for FY 2027 is one of cautious confidence. Before I hand the call to Q&A, I extend our thanks to our investors, our retail and joint venture partners, our customers, of course, the Vicinity team, and indeed everyone associated with the company for your support and contribution. Thank you. We will open the call to 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 then two. If you are on a speakerphone, please pick up the handset to ask your question. We also ask that you please limit yourself to two questions. Today's first question comes from Solomon Zhang with UBS. Please go ahead.
Morning, Peter, Adrian, Tim. Thanks for your time. Just wanted to ask about the lift in yield on cost assumption on Chatswood to 6.7%, clearly pleasing to see. Was that more on the cost side or income? What drove that, and have you revised your two-year stabilization period to that stabilized yield on cost?
Hey, Solomon, it's Peter here. Fundamentally, it's all based on income in the lift in that uplift, which is a pleasing result from us. That's how we would like to see it, and then obviously that income then compounds into the future at a much higher rate. In terms of the stabilization, it's still very early days for Chatswood, so we're still holding our stabilization assumptions the same, which is essentially a higher level of stabilization for FY 2027, about half that amount for FY 2028, and a fraction of that amount going into FY 2029, as there's still about four luxury retailers to open over the course of the next 12 months, and then obviously reestablishing the market area for them.
Thanks. Just second question, maybe a broader one just on, I guess, the macro and how that's influencing your leasing decisions. I guess in an environment just intuitively when sales are decelerating, you would have expected that maybe spreads are moderated. But just looking at your apparel and footwear spreads, there were 6% versus sales growth at 1%. Just trying to reconcile that and maybe just touching on how you think the sales actually influences that releasing spread and whether you think 4% is actually sustainable heading into 2027 as well. Thanks.
Yes. So it's Peter here. It's probably fair enough to say there has been moderation in sales and within our FY 2027 guidance, we essentially have put within that guidance a leasing spread forecast of around 3%. So we have taken some reduction in terms of the performance of this year into the guidance for the next year. So we do take that into account. That said, we're at 99.6% occupancy of our assets. We had very strong leasing demand, particularly in the last two months of the fiscal year. And we are churning about 26% of our tenants. So that's fundamentally on purpose to ensure we have the right brands that are more productive within that space. And over the last few years, that active curation management is really how we've been able to drive better performance in that leasing spread. We would hope that continues throughout FY 2027.
We're obviously mindful of where sales are. I would say they have been quite resilient sales. They have come off in the last six months. We've just printed July's sales as well, which were slightly better than the last quarter.
Thanks, Pete.
Thank you. Our next question today comes from Connor Eldridge at JP Morgan. Please go ahead.
Hi, Peter and team. Thanks for your time this morning. Just to follow on from that last comment around the assumption of 3% spreads in the 2027 guide. How does that compare to the spreads that you achieved in the fourth quarter? It looks like they might have stepped down a fair bit just based on the full year average of 4.2%.
Yeah. Connor, it's Peter here. Probably the fourth quarter, the leasing spreads were around that 2% mark. Again, it's not untypical for that to occur. For whatever reason, we normally have stronger spreads in the first half of the fiscal year and then have slightly weaker spreads coming into the second half. Every month the spread remained positive, but yes, it was around 2%-2.5% for the last quarter.
Thanks. Just on the Chatswood resi opportunity, you mentioned optionality across delivery and funding structures. Could you maybe just expand on, I suppose, what your current preference would be based on just where you see the market today?
Our preference has always been to partner on that project, at least as a minimum, a capital partner and someone who also may bring expertise into that venture. Our focus really at the moment is to secure the rezoning and the development approval. That really entrenches the value into the land. We're obviously really mindful of the residential market, and particularly since the federal government's changes in taxation policy that has had an impact around residential. But we're a circle around best case two years from construction commencement of that. Again, we're focused on getting the approvals in place. Over the course of the next short period of time, we would hope to then inform the market of the execution strategy, ideally through this fiscal year.
Thank you.
Thank you. Our next question today comes from Carl Braganza with Jarden. Please go ahead.
Morning, Peter, Adrian. Thanks for your time. A few questions from me. The first one was on Uptown. I think the total cost range has increased by AUD 50 million versus what you flagged at the first half. What has driven that change?
Hey, Carl. It is Peter. Probably a couple of things. We spent the last six months in really detailed due diligence, hand-in-hand with Hutchinson Builders, who we have employed in a pre-construction phase. It is a brownfield development, so there is some additional costs associated with plant and equipment replacements around compliance. That is one component of it. The second component is, as we have gone through design development, there are some income accretive opportunities that require some capital to go into the project that we have included within the scope and will be included shortly within the development approvals with the Brisbane City Council. We have talked them through those enhancements as well. They fundamentally represent the two major items that have led to the revision in that cost range.
Thanks for that.
I would say the return range remains the same, and we would be hopeful, similar to the projects we have just delivered, that they could also improve. We would update the market fully. We would expect to be pretty much completed, ready to commence by the time of the fiscal half year.
Final one from me was, what was the yield on the Taigum Square asset?
The passing yield on sale is essentially around 6%.
Perfect. Thanks, guys.
Thank you. Our next question today comes from David Pobucky with Macquarie Group. Please go ahead.
Good morning, Peter, Adrian, and team. Thanks for taking my questions. Just the first one on capital recycling. You spent the last number of years upgrading portfolio quality, through Uptown, Chatswood Chase, Eastern Creek, et cetera, as well as recycling regional assets. Just curious to understand how much more portfolio repositioning and recycling is required and what might that look like in terms of acquisitions and disposals going forward?
Hey, David, it's Peter. It's probably fair enough to say we've broken the back of it, David. I think we've sold 16 assets in the last three years, and that has really been our main source of funding for acquisition and development activity. It's also led to a meaningful upgrade of our portfolio quality. We have Box Hill North on the market presently at the moment, and that's one that we haven't transacted at this particular point in time, but it's been publicly marketed. There might be one or two other assets that's subject to opportunity, of the opportunity being obviously to further increase the quality of our portfolio and subject to it being value accretive that we could trade, either at 100% or potentially bring in a joint venture partner.
I would suggest that we're materially through the asset divestment program that we had envisaged in the core of our portfolio.
Thank you. Just the second one, around consumer and retail trends. Sales have remained relatively resilient. Just any feedback or commentary you can provide on trading post the end of the fiscal year. Have you observed any increase in retailer requests for rent relief or lease renegotiations, et cetera? Any anecdotes that you can share? Thank you.
Yeah, David, look, typically July is a fairly quiet period in terms of lease transaction conclusions. In context, it probably represents only about 25% of the activity of June, which is a very active year. In terms of rent relief, no material uplift in either determinations or requests. From a retailer sales point of view, it might be helpful for those on the call, we essentially finished July at around about a 3% positive comp growth. Importantly, particularly across mini majors and specialties, that was around 4%. So that was an uptick versus both May and particularly June. So we still feel as though whilst sales in this half of the year or in 2026 aren't as strong as the back half of 2025, we still feel as though they're quite resilient. Albeit probably a little choppy through the year. They're hard to predict.
Our next question today comes from James Druce at CLSA. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Good morning, Peter and Adrian. Just on the sales in July, do you think there's any World Cup effects coming through there or?
That's an interesting one, James. I'm not sure if it's a World Cup, but what we are seeing, which is an interesting trend in these particular times, is things such as food catering, so people going out to restaurants, jewelry, cinemas. So they're simple luxuries. They've all actually been trading above the average. Probably it's some sort of more moderate sales and more within our major retailers, department stores, supermarkets and discount department stores. We've only just rolled up July, James, so I probably haven't got the fine detail of whether there's any World Cup influence on that or not.
Okay. And one more, if I may. Actually, two more. In catchments where house prices are falling more aggressively that we have centers, are you seeing that impact come through or is it largely pretty immune at the moment?
James, we're typically two to four weeks behind in terms of culminating our sales data, so we'll probably need to have a solid period of about six months to determine if there is any impact associated with that. We're clearly conscious of the fact that value within house prices has a positive correlation with consumer confidence, and then there's obviously a correlation to consumer expenditure from there, and that's something that we're mindful of and that we'll watch through. At this particular point in time, sales are fairly consistent across the portfolio. We're seeing really strong sales in our CBDs, which is great to see. Even Melbourne CBD, despite the rhetoric around Melbourne CBD and other property classifications. Probably where we're seeing it is Victoria more generally slightly down in terms of sales, productivity versus the rest of the country.
Okay. That's clear. And one more, if I may. I think at the start of the year, you were guiding to around AUD 400 million of CapEx for 2026. I think you came in at AUD 350 million. Just wondering what gave you that little boost to spend less by the end of the year.
Yeah, this is Adrian here. Thanks, James. We end up about AUD 330 million all up for the year. Some of that is probably just some delayed starts on a couple of the projects, particularly around incentives for Chatswood. It is a very timing-specific impact where some of the incentive spend for Chatswood actually goes into FY 2027. So it is really just around the edges on incentives and pushing some CapEx into FY 2027.
Okay. That is clear. Thank you.
Thank you. Our next question today comes from Howard Penny at Citi. Please go ahead.
Thank you very much, and congrats on the results. Just a first question. It is just thinking about ideas in the market, and one of the things we have seen is some of the bigger shopping center owners setting down some significant stakes in their core assets and effectively earning some fees and increasing the return on equity on their investment. Is that something that is on the desk of Vicinity and a potential for you?
Hi, Howard. It's Peter. We have done that over the last four years in our core assets. The Nikos Property Group, which is a strong joint venture partner of ours, a private family business, has transacted across three 50% shares of our core regional assets, two in South Australia and two in Victoria, over the last three years, so that we sit side by side as a 50% partnership, and we do earn fees from that in terms of our management rights. That still remains our preferred model. We are different than others in the market. We are probably more similar to Westfield, where we like to put our capital at play from a balance sheet, and particularly on our premium assets where they have higher growth. We would prefer to have our capital also achieving that higher growth and then earns fees on top. We are not a fund manager per se.
Thank you very much. Just another question. The portfolios, post the developments, producing great organic growth and leasing up. Thinking back to those inorganic strategies and putting more capital beyond the Uptown development, et cetera, are there new developments that you are getting closer to pressing the button on or acquisitions? How are you thinking about those inorganic activities over the next two years?
Look, so it's Peter again, Howard. We are obviously acquisitive. Essentially, we have bought six assets in six years, roughly about one per year. We are highly selective in terms of them and that hence things such as Uptown and DFO Eastern Creek really had to meet quite a select criteria in terms of meeting the requirements for the portfolio quality we want to have moving forward. There are a number of assets that are in the market that would be attractive for us either today in their existing form or today in their existing form and with development opportunities. In terms of our development pipeline itself, we are sequentially moving through them. We obviously move from Chadstone into Chatswood, moving into now the opening of Galleria. When that opens, we will then move into the start of Uptown.
We are doing little projects at Chadstone at the moment with luxury at Castle Plaza or at Grand Plaza. I suppose what I am getting at, Howard, it's a capital-intensive industry, and we like to invest capital as long as there is the appropriate return and as long as that capital is selectively allocated to make sure it makes its best return and then make those assets more contemporary for not only the communities that they serve, but also for the key leading retailers that we do business with. I would anticipate moving forward into the future. At this particular point in time, we do not have another significant development planned at this point in time, but we will always have those AUD 20 million to AUD 60 million interventions into assets as long as they are making the appropriate returns.
Thank you, Peter, and congrats once again.
Thanks, Howard.
Thank you. Our next question today comes from Simon Chan at Morgan Stanley. Please go ahead.
Hey, good day, guys. Hey, Pete, I know it's early days, but the center's been trading for a number of months now. On Chatswood Chase, what do you reckon is the occupancy cost run rating at the moment, spec occupancy cost?
Simon, right at the moment is probably around the 15%-16%, I would say. We typically run luxury retailers on a lower occupancy cost anywhere, to be honest. So they typically run sub 10%. Our non-food retailers are probably running around that 18%-20% occupancy. That is the reason why we have stabilization in there as well to make sure that we establish its market area through marketing and we do provide a little bit of a rental assistance to some areas of new developments to ensure that they hit their mark. The food is trading extremely well. So that is probably how I would summarize Chatswood at the moment. It is still very early days. We only opened Hermès five or six weeks ago, and that was a key retailer to really start driving traffic through there.
Yeah, I have been there already, Pete, just FYI. The 15%-16%, is that what was in the fees? Based on your comments, though, once it is fully stabilized in, say, 18 months, 24 months time, in theory, it should be below 15%-16%. Is that fair?
Yeah, probably, because food will trade slightly below that and the luxury will trade probably sub 10%. So if you exclude luxury out of it should be around that 17%-19% OCR mark.
Okay, cool. Just to clarify, so the eventual yield, the stabilized yield has gone from 6%- 6.7%. What sort of yield have you factored in for FY 2027?
For 2027, we are essentially around 5%.
Okay, that is clear.
On a running year, it generally gets to 5% for 2027, a bit over 6% for 2028, and it will hit the stabilized yield ideally at the start of FY 2029.
Yep. Good stuff. Thanks, mate.
May be helpful as well. The target from a sales point of view, we basically have that around AUD 850 million. We're trading. We won't know that until we have a good run rate of six months to see how close we are to that number.
Okay. AUD 850. Thanks. Cheers.
Thank you. Our next question today comes from Thomas Ryan at Green Street. Please go ahead.
Hi, team. Thanks for the time. Just a question on, obviously, you've done a lot of work already in terms of portfolio curation. I just wanted to ask, looking at the revaluations that you've posted in your results, are you comfortable with the current sort of lens in terms of that breakdown? Of course, ex Chadstone, but in terms of how you've curated the portfolio into greater exposure to outlets and less into regional, sub-regional assets. How can we sort of see that profile over the next 12 months in terms of how you're thinking about revaluations and where you're pushing the income the most?
That is a very good question. I am not sure if I have a very good answer. We are happy with the portfolio composition. We are clearly focused on CBDs, we are clearly focused on outlets, and we are clearly focused on assets such as Chadstone, Chatswood, and Lakeside Joondalup, which we purchased. We see that typically the growth rates on those assets have been closer to 6% from a comp NPI growth versus the standard. We do foresee, subject to all things being equal, that that will continue to occur in those assets. Hence, that is the reason when opportunities do present themselves in the market where we see we can add value, they typically align with those premium outlets or assets such as Lakeside Joondalup, which we have purchased 50% of. We do not have a breakdown number of exactly what FY 2027 is going to look like on vals for those assets.
But we would anticipate it will be similar to what has occurred in the last 12 months.
Thanks for that. Just to follow up on Carl's earlier question on that one asset that you are about to settle on in terms of that divestment in Queensland. Obviously, it was, I think in the notes, it sort of mentions there it was on the book val from 30 June last year. I was just wondering if you had it marked as June this year in terms of where that landed relative to that number, if you did have it valued in June.
Yeah. The number in our June accounts reflects that AUD 120 million sale value.
Got it. Thanks for that.
Thank you. As there are no further questions at this time, I will now hand back to Mr. Huddle for closing remarks.
Thank you, operator. Just on behalf of myself and Adrian and the broader Vicinity team, I would just like to thank the analysts for their interest in our company, and we look forward to catching up with you independently over the next day or so, and answer any further questions in more detail. Thank you again.