The Charter Hall Long WALE (ASX: CLW) share price is trading roughly 0.74% higher today following the release of the company's FY21 half-year results. At the time of writing, the Charter Long share price is $4.74.
Charter Hall is an Australian real estate investment trust (REIT). The company's real estate assets are predominantly leased to corporate and government tenants on long-term leases.
Charter Hall's financial highlights
The Charter Hall share price is up slightly on the back of the company reporting its most recent half-year results. The REIT reported $697 million of new investments during the six months ending 31 December 2020.
The company estimates its portfolio valuation is $4.5 billion, up from $3.6 billion as at 30 June 2020.
Charter Hall increased its total asset growth by 16.5%, or $509 million. The company said the gain is a product of acquisitions that settled during the period and a property evaluation uplift of $150 million.
The company raised $388 million of equity during 1H FY21. During the timeframe, additional capital management activities included the increase of existing bank facilities by $150 million and extending the maturity of the agreements by 1.1 years.
Charter Hall Exchange Investment Trust, in which the company has a 50% interest, also completed a $300 million 10-year medium-term notes issuance during the period.
Operating earnings per share (EPS) jumped 3.6% over 1H FY20 to come in at 14.5 cents per share. Charter Hall reaffirmed its FY21 Operating EPS guidance of no less than 29.1 cents per security.
A snapshot of the Charter Hall property portfolio
Charter Hall listed having 459 properties as of December 2020 with a 97.5% occupancy rate. The weighted average lease expiry (WALE) is approximately 14 years.
Some tenants of Charter Hall include Woolworths Group Ltd (ASX: WOW), Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS), and BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP). The company also leases office space to several government departments.
Charter Hall categorises its tenants as telecommunications, government, grocery and distribution, fuel and convenience, pubs and bottle shops, food manufacturing, water and recycling management, and 'other.'
In late January, Charter Hill also secured a $20 million Brisbane warehouse deal. Construction Equipment Australia will be one of the company's latest tenants upon completion of the Darra-based 5,600sq m facility.
Management commentary
Reflecting on new business and partnerships formed during the first half of FY21, Avi Anger, Charter Hall Long WALE REIT fund manager said:
During 1H FY21 we further diversified and improved the resilience of CLW's portfolio and increased the portfolio WALE. We extended our partnership with bp, acquiring an interest in 70 Long WALE triple-net (NNN) convenience retail properties in New Zealand. In December, we further expanded our telco exchange portfolio with the acquisition of Telstra's Pitt Street, Sydney CBD telco exchange. At the end of the period, we also agreed to acquire a 50% interest in the David Jones flagship Elizabeth Street store in the Sydney CBD.
Over the past 12 months, the Charter Hill share price has fallen over 14%.
