Winton Land Limited (NZE:WIN)
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May 8, 2026, 3:49 PM NZST
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Earnings Call: H2 2025

Aug 26, 2025

Chris Meehan
CEO, Winton Land

Thank you. Good morning. Thank you for joining us today for Winton 's FY 2025 Annual Results Call. Alongside me here today is Jean McMahon, who's Winton's Chief Financial Officer. We'll start with the business update, followed by the financial overview with Jean. I will then finish with the ESG highlights and a few slides on the market and the outlook. We'll then take questions at the end. However, investors and analysts can add themselves to the question queue at any time. Before I speak to the results, I just want to acknowledge the landscape that we're operating in. The property market has remained subdued in many parts of New Zealand, most particularly Auckland, and the economy has struggled, impacted by low growth, excessive bureaucracy, the challenging property market, and higher unemployment, as well as the ongoing wider global uncertainty.

While much of this is beyond our control, we do control Winton's response to the economic conditions and how we strategically position the company for long-term shareholder value. With that being said, Winton's long-standing pre-sale strategy has continued to serve us well and will continue to do so over the coming years. In FY 2025, we settled 266 units compared to 345 in FY 2024. Revenue decreased 10.5% to $155.4 million in FY 2025, compared to $173.6 million in FY 2024. EBITDA for FY 2025 was $21.3 million, a 27.9% decrease compared to FY 2024, the net profit after tax was $10.3 million, a 34.4% decrease compared to FY 2024. As of June 30, we had a land bank yield of approximately 5,750 units, cash holdings of $20.3 million, 20 current projects across 12 master plan communities, and a pre-sales book of approximately $248 million.

Outside the financial results, we delivered a number of business highlights, which we will cover in more detail over the next few slides. Our land bank pipeline has an expected yield of approximately 5,750 units, including 877 retirement units. Revenue for FY 2025 from residential development was $130.3 million, delivering a $21.9 million EBITDA. This is attributable to the 266 units that settled during the period, of which 90 units settled in the first half of the year and 176 units in the second half. The main FY 2025 settlements included land lots in stage 3 and stage 4 at Lakeside, Te Kauwhata, and the Jimmy's Point Apartments at Launch Bay in Auckland. At Northlake Wānaka, the remaining Alta Villa townhouses settled, and land lots within stage 17 and stage 18 also settled.

While the product mix in FY 2025 included fewer apartments, dwellings, and commercial units compared to FY 2024, the product settled in FY 2025 was of higher value, driving higher average revenue per unit. As a result, the average revenue per unit increased by 4% to $489,000. In February this year, Winton submitted its detailed application for the Sunfield project under the Fast-Track Approvals Act 2024. The project has since been accepted into the FastTrack process, and a panel has been appointed. It's encouraging to see the New Zealand government making progress, and we commend them on the process to date. Currently, we've used the ability to suspend the processing of our Sunfield application, to allow time to provide all the technical responses required.

This seems to have caused a bit of confusion, but put simply, the Fast-Track Act allows a period of only five working days for the applicant to respond to questions from submitters regarding technical aspects of our proposal. Our team expects the realistic timeframe to collect these technical responses to be somewhere in the order of 15 working days. Therefore, we've used our ability to suspend the processing of the application, and are confident in formalizing all technical responses to the panel within this timeframe, at which point the suspension will be lifted by us. We're hopeful to have a positive outcome on Sunfield around the end of the calendar year, and if approval is granted, it's Winton's intention to commence development of the Sunfield project immediately. Recently, Winton's Ayrburn Screen Hub was also accepted into the Fast-Track process under the Fast-Track Approvals Act 2024.

The Ayrburn Screen Hub is planned to be an all-inclusive film studio, enabling users to work and stay on site during filming, production, and post-production. Accompanied by studio buildings, workrooms, office space for film departments, dressing rooms, a screening room, and meeting spaces, a 185-room accommodation facility for film workers is also planned, which will be available as visitor accommodation when there aren't any films in production. The facility will be located adjacent to the Ayrburn hospitality precinct and Northbrook Arrowtown. Should the project receive resource consent, it will be a valuable part of the Ayrburn master plan in generating significant recurring revenue from the screen hub and incremental revenue growth for the hospitality precinct.

On a separate note, last week, we reached an agreement with Kāinga Ora in respect of the High Court proceeding brought by Winton, alleging anti-competitive conduct by Kāinga Ora and another proceeding regarding Lakeside Developments Limited, hailing New Zealand Limited, and Kāinga Ora- Homes and Communities. Winton is satisfied with the outcome and feels that the confidential commercial settlement that was reached is beneficial to both parties. In addition to the residential settlements during FY 2025, we've continued momentum on site at some of our larger neighborhoods. In addition to the 183 land lots that we settled at Lakeside Te Kauwhata, construction work is ongoing. Works are continuing at pace on the balance of stage 4 with services, drainage, roading, and landscaping.

The stage 1 reserve area is being progressed to extend the walking network within Lakeside, and the Scott Road intersection upgrade is nearing its completion, which will improve the access to the overall development. At Northlake Wānaka, the 20 ALTA Villa townhouses were completed, along with the final stage 17 land lots. The first stage 18 land lots were also completed, titled, and settled. Works continue on the balance of stage 18, including drainage, roading, and landscaping, and a proposed private plan change is well underway to expand stage 19. At Northwinds in Cessnock, preparatory works continue for planning approvals for stage 7 and beyond. Coming to Northbrook, the first stage of Northbrook Wānaka officially opened in May 2025, with the first residents moving in and starting their Northbrook lifestyle.

After years of careful planning, design, and construction, it is incredibly rewarding for us to see this vision come to life. Revenues from deferred management fees and village service fees have commenced, and will continue to grow as the village matures and reaches stabilization. The Northbrook Wānaka Wellness Spa is a luxurious amenity with a 14-meter heated swimming pool, a sauna, a boutique fitness studio, a hair salon, and various treatment rooms. Construction is progressing at pace, and is on target for completion by the end of this year. We look forward to opening this opulent facility in addition to Northbrook Wānaka. At Northbrook Arrowtown, excavation services and piling works have continued, as have the high number of visitors to this place as well. We are operating with discipline as we prepare for stage 1 of construction, using the timing of the property cycle to the project's advantage.

Construction tenders have now been received, and we're working through final contractor selection and contract documentation. During FY 2026, Northbrook will continue its momentum and welcome more residents, introducing additional luxurious amenities and enabling current residents to live the life they love every day. Our commercial projects include Winton's investment properties at Lakeside and Cracker Bay, as well as the operating businesses at Ayrburn and Cracker Bay. Revenue for this segment includes rent and hospitality revenue. In FY 2025, commercial revenue was $24.7 million, up from $11 million in FY 2024. The renovation and the refurbishment of the Cracker Bay office building is almost complete, offering premium waterfront office facilities for tenants across four levels. Leasing has progressed well, with 71.4% of Cracker Bay livable area now leased as of June 30, 2025.

The last of the council resource concern approvals were also received for the wider Cracker Bay and Northbrook Wynyard Quarter precincts, and the timing of construction will be determined once market conditions improve. Turning to Ayrburn, our Ayrburn master plan is coming together well. Ayrburn is situated in the best part of the most expensive street in New Zealand, and is very much a key long-term asset for Winton. We intend to continue to maximize the value from the entire master plan for shareholders over the years. We expect to welcome at least 1 million visitors to Ayrburn over the next year, and it is on track to become the most visited attraction in Queenstown. In FY 2025, we completed and opened several new venues, unlocking further opportunities, particularly event opportunities across the precinct. These openings included the Boat House, RM Produce, as well as our most recent opening, Billy's.

In March, Ayrburn hosted the inaugural Ayrburn Classic, a two-day celebration of motoring, featuring vintage classic and modern luxury cars. Thousands of people attended, and whether they're car enthusiasts or not, everyone had a fantastic time. We look forward to the second Ayrburn Classic in February 2026, which promises to be significantly bigger and better than the first. Looking ahead to FY 2026, the focus at Ayrburn is on visitor growth, gaining further operating efficiencies from the multi-venue site, and continuing to build the event pipeline. We intend to deliver the high-end Ayrburn experience to every visitor, whether they come at day or night. The construction of Billy's Restaurant and the adjoining Conservatory were completed in June this year, when we welcomed our first customers.

Billy's offers a modern and refined Cantonese-inspired menu and a drinks list, a deliberate and thoughtful diversification of cuisine, and one well-suited to Ayrburn and the wider region. Billy's is situated in the last heritage building to be recreated at Ayrburn, or the Ayrburn Homestead, and the adjoining Conservatory. The vision was to maintain the original look on the exterior, while transforming the interior into another world, a celebration of both old and new. We're grateful to everyone involved in bringing this vision to life and for their patience and craftsmanship in delivering this complex project to such a very high standard. Now I'll turn to Jean for the financials. Thank you.

Jean McMahon
CFO, Winton Land

Morning everyone, and thank you for joining us. As Chris mentioned, we are pleased to report our results for FY 2025. Winton has delivered revenue of $155.4 million, 10.5% down from $173.6 million in FY 2024. A total of 266 units were settled, a decrease of 79 units. Cost of goods sold of $95.9 million is lower than FY 2024 by $7.4 million or 7.2%. Although there was a lower proportion of built products settled by volume in FY 2025, the cost per unit was higher as the built product was of higher value than the built product settled in FY 2024. Commercial revenue increased by $13.7 million in FY 2025, due to Airburn contributing 12 months of trading compared to the previous period when it was only open for seven months. A fair value gain of $5.1 million resulted from the revaluation of commercial assets and retirement land within the investment properties portfolio.

This compares to a loss of $1.7 million in FY 2024. Employee benefits expense increased by $3 million in FY 2025, with Ayrburn trading for an additional five months compared to FY 2024. Administrative expenses increased by $2.7 million, with an increase in legal costs of $2.4 million and other administrative expenses of $2.3 million due to the growth of Winton's operations. This was offset by a decrease in establishment costs of $2.2 million. Establishment costs are those costs incurred in relation to the pre-opening of Ayrburn venues, and these include, branding, marketing, recruitment, and employee training. Net interest income was $2.2 million lower due to a decrease in average cash reserves and interest rates. The resultant net profit after tax FY 2025 is $10.3 million, a reduction from $15.7 million in the prior year. An increase in investment properties of $80.9 million represents progress at Northbrook Wānaka and Northbrook Wynyard Quarter.

Winton entered into an $18.3 million debt facility secured against the completed office building and marina complex at Cracker Bay in November 2024. The facility has a term of 12 months , with the ability to extend for a further two years. In February 2025, Winton entered into a new borrowing facility in respect of its Sunfield project. The facility limit is $22.5 million, including accrued interest, with a term of 18 months. In March 2025, Winton entered into a new borrowing facility in respect of its Northlake stage 18 project. The facility limit is $22.5 million, including accrued interest, with a term of two years. Winton has no recourse debt at the group level, and all other properties, excluding those mentioned and Lakeside, across the group remain unencumbered. Winton enters FY 2026 with $20.3 million in cash reserves.

Winton Fund Limited and MaxCap New Zealand Limited agreed to terminate and deregister the partnership WNC Development Fund LP, with effect 1, August 2025. This terminates the joint venture capital commitment of $50 million. Pleasingly, we experienced no settlement defaults during the period. As at FY 2024 result, the board paused paying a dividend, maintaining financial discipline during softer market conditions, which remains the board's view for FY 2025.

Chris Meehan
CEO, Winton Land

Thanks, Jean. Moving on to the ESG, during FY 2024, our most significant ESG progress relates to meeting the additional requirements of year 2 reporting of the climate-related disclosures and GHG emissions inventory measurement. This year's climate-related disclosures have been published today alongside our annual results. It contains the transition planning aspects of Winton's strategy, and externally assured GHG emissions for scope 1, scope 2, and scope 3 emissions. This year, we reduced our reliance on spend-based emissions factors, improving accuracy and therefore reducing emissions reporting. Just to mention a couple of other key contributors, aligning with Winton's sustainability framework, we funded nearly $5 million in development contributions, which improve the infrastructure and support the communities that Winton operates in. We improved Winton's Health and Safety TRIR from 3.0 in FY 2024 to 2.2 in FY 2025. We implemented further initiatives to continue to improve the water quality at Mill Creek at Ayrburn.

We sponsored a number of initiatives in the communities that Winton operates in and supported local businesses as much as possible, with 93% of onsite work still under local contractors. As I mentioned earlier, we completed the recreation of the last heritage building at Ayrburn, which is the original Ayrburn Homestead. Turning to the market and outlook, obviously, the property market has remained subdued in many parts of New Zealand, most particularly Auckland, and the economy has continued to struggle. Unemployment continues to increase, and we maintain our view that the residential property market is unlikely to substantially turn around until sometime after unemployment has peaked. In addition to unemployment continuing to rise, net migration is at its lowest level than it's been over the last 10 years, and ready-made concrete volumes are below the 10-year average.

However, there are some positive signs in Winton's operating environment, including a declining official cash rate, increased competition amongst suppliers, lower labor costs, and a rise in the number of houses sold compared to the prior year, with the Queenstown- Lakes District outperforming the rest of the country. In our view, given the current economic environment and the property market, it is a prudent time to avoid taking risks as we conserve our resources until the economy and the market begin to turn around. We will continue to operate with discipline and have appropriately resourced the team to reflect the current project pipeline. In the near term, this means focusing primarily on Winton's Sunfield project and Winton's South Island operations and developments, where the market has remained buoyant.

We will be judicious in committing further capital to projects until we have some further conviction that the market has a positive outlook. As I said in the prior slide, we maintain our view that we don't expect this to occur until after unemployment has peaked. We're moving to 2026 cautious but confident, and I'm very grateful for the dedication of the Winton team and their ability to continue excelling through what's been a very tough property cycle. We'd like to extend our appreciation to our trade partners, our contractors, our suppliers for their continued hard work, as well as our community of stakeholders and shareholders for their continued support. Thank you. That brings our presentation to an end, and I'm happy to move to any questions if anyone has any.

Operator

Thank you. If you wish to ask a question, please press star one on your telephone and wait for your name to be announced. If you wish to cancel your request, please press star two. If you are on a speaker phone, please pick up the handset to ask your question. Your first question comes from Nicholas Hill with Craigs Investment Partners. Please go ahead.

Nicholas Hill
Analyst, Craigs Investment Partners

Hi, good morning. Congratulations on another year in a soft market. Just to say from me.

Chris Meehan
CEO, Winton Land

Yep.

Nicholas Hill
Analyst, Craigs Investment Partners

Can you hear me? Sorry.

Chris Meehan
CEO, Winton Land

No, good. Thanks, Nick. Yep.

Nicholas Hill
Analyst, Craigs Investment Partners

All right, great. With regards to the pausing of the Northbrook Wynyard Quarter developments, what kind of market evidence do you think you'd need to see for the next stage of development to commence?

Chris Meehan
CEO, Winton Land

L ook, it's an ongoing consideration for us, Nick, and I think it's a combination. We're confident that the demand for the product is there, but we really want to see clear evidence of contraction in the build cost. We are starting to see that. I think that's the main consideration, and we're monitoring that pretty closely on a monthly, if not weekly basis.

Nicholas Hill
Analyst, Craigs Investment Partners

Would you also be looking at, call it residential sales and sort of the high end of the market? Because I guess if a resident needs to move in, they need to sell their current place, right?

Chris Meehan
CEO, Winton Land

Yeah, that's true. At this end of the demographic, we're finding a lot of the buyers that are still keen to transact, but don't have that requirement, so it's not necessarily the whole driver. We are looking at, if you recall, there was a residential apartment component of that project called The Villards, and we are looking at whether we convert that into a hotel because the demand for hotels seems to continue to rise.

Nicholas Hill
Analyst, Craigs Investment Partners

No, that's very interesting, I believe. Precinct just announced this morning that they're intending to have a component of the downtown hotel or downtown car park as a hotel as well. Just on the Cracker Bay, what would be the evidence you need to see there? Y ou're seeing quite a strong premium office in Auckland on the waterfront. Is it just mainly a build cost story as well?

Chris Meehan
CEO, Winton Land

Yeah, pretty well.

Nicholas Hill
Analyst, Craigs Investment Partners

All right, thanks. On Ayrburn, I believe you indicated visitation numbers were more or less in line with your expectations.

Chris Meehan
CEO, Winton Land

Yeah.

Nicholas Hill
Analyst, Craigs Investment Partners

Would you be able to provide any kind of commentary in terms of how spend per visitor has tracked?

Chris Meehan
CEO, Winton Land

I don't really want to get into the specific numbers, but it's in line with our expectations, and it continues to get better. As an overall comment, we're really happy with visitation, and it continues to grow. I think we're only sort of at over a year and a half into operating Ayrburn. If you consider that the last three restaurants have only opened in the last few months, so we're now operating with all restaurants and venues open. Visitation continues to get stronger by the month, and we're thinking we'll be able to see everything over the next two or three years. We're very comfortable with the spend per head. O bviously, we'd always like more, but we're comfortable with where it's tracking, and certainly tracking upwards with the addition of Billy's that's only been open for two months.

Nicholas Hill
Analyst, Craigs Investment Partners

Right. On your commentary to that, development at Sunfield will commence once approval is received, t here is a Fast-Track application and the Mills Road application, and you can do the first stage of 50 hectares of zoned, which is on Future Urban, without the Fast-Track approval. Would this comment be referring to the Mills Road upgrade in particular?

Chris Meehan
CEO, Winton Land

No, I mean, that's underway. The Mill Road upgrade is going to be underway. That's fully funded by the government, and that's happening outside of our control or input, which is a great thing for us. If we got the Fast-Track consent, we would get cracking on both the commercial, the industrial, and the residential components of Sunfield literally straight away.

Nicholas Hill
Analyst, Craigs Investment Partners

Okay, so that refers to mainly the commercial and industrial part of Sunfield, and that whole residential component will basically commence sooner, right?

Chris Meehan
CEO, Winton Land

No. We'd start them all straight all at once. The base infrastructure would all go in together, and so you'd expect titles to be popping out for the industrial, the commercial, and the residential all around about the same time.

Nicholas Hill
Analyst, Craigs Investment Partners

Okay, thanks. Last one from me. Do you have any updates or commentary for Northbrook A von Loop and Christchurch?

Chris Meehan
CEO, Winton Land

No, we've got our consents in place. We had a situation where post our initial consent, the zoning changed in a positive way, so we could go a lot higher. We then reconfigured our consent and had some excess land. We have that excess land in the market, but haven't agreed a deal on that yet. The intention is to sell the excess land and then at a point in time that's appropriate, get on with the village on the remaining zoned land.

Nicholas Hill
Analyst, Craigs Investment Partners

Okay, thanks. That's all from me.

Chris Meehan
CEO, Winton Land

Okay. T hanks, Nick.

Operator

Once again, if you wish to ask a question, please press star one on your telephone and wait for your name to be announced. There are no further questions at this time. I'll now hand the call back to Mr. Meehan for closing remarks.

Chris Meehan
CEO, Winton Land

Okay, thanks again for joining us today. Obviously, if anyone has any follow-up questions or any further inquiries, please do not hesitate to send them through to either myself or to Jean. Thank you very much.

Operator

That does conclude our conference for today. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect.

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