Australian property giant Lend Lease saw its shares fall to a four-year low today, after reporting a slide in profits.
For the year to June, net profits fell 95% to A$151.4m, well below analysts’ forecasts of A$150-170m. Shares in the firm hit A$11.40, their lowest level since 1997, and well down from a 12-month high of A$22.58.
Lend Lease blamed the profits crash on lost revenues after the sale of its financial services arm MLC to National Australia Bank for A$4.5bn. The group has returned A&1.8bn to shareholders since the sale.
The company also said the A$25m restructuring of its Real Estate Investments (REI) arm and the write-off of $163m on various investments, including $65m for its Fox Studios joint venture with News Corp had also hit the 2001 results.
However, Lend Lease said it was pleased with UK construction and property arm Bovis Lend Lease, which contributed $90.3m after tax as a result of higher profits in the Americas, Europe and other global markets.
Managing director David Higgins said without the write-offs and another $103m worth of one-off profit items, Lend Lease’s overall profit after tax would have been “significantly higher”.
He said the group was on track to deliver a net profit of $210m in 2001/02 as long as the market did not deteriorate. Higgins added that it was difficult to compare the profit result with the previous year as that had included a gain from MLC.
EGi News 16/08/01
