Charter Hall Group (ASX: CHC) shares are up 3.9% in late afternoon trade on Monday.
Shares in the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) property investment and funds manager closed on Friday trading for $10.40 each. At the time of writing, they're swapping hands for $10.805 apiece.
For some context, the ASX 200 is down 0.33% at this same time.
Today's rally follows the release of the company's full-year results for the financial year ending 30 June (FY23).
Read on for the highlights.
Charter Hall shares lift despite profit plunge
- Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of $597 million, down 18.3% from FY22
- Operating earnings per share post-tax of 93.3 cents per share
- Statutory profit after tax down 78.5% year on year to $196 million
- Full-year dividend payout of 42.5 cents per share, partly franked
What else happened during the year?
The Charter Hall share price could be getting some support from the increase in funds under management (FUM) during the year.
Total FUM increased by $7.5 billion to $87.4 billion. That's comprised of $71.9 billion of property FUM together with a 50% investment in the $15.6 billion of FUM managed by Paradice Investment Management (PIM).
Charter Hall's property FUM grew by 9.5% over the 12 months, fuelled by $4.8 billion of net acquisitions, devaluations of $1.6 billion, and capex spending of $3 billion mostly on developments.
As for property investment, the portfolio saw both divestments and deployment offset by valuation declines. The property investment portfolio's net value increased $33 million in FY23 to $3 billion.
The company said occupancy "remained resilient" at 97.6%, with a Weighted Average Lease Expiry (WALE) of 7.4 years.
On the balance sheet, Charter Hall held $401 million of cash as at 30 June, with balance sheet gearing of 2.2%.
What did management say?
Commenting on the results supporting the Charter Hall share price today, CEO David Harrison said:
Despite challenging conditions, FY23 maintained Group FUM despite downward valuations driven by rising interest rates…
We delivered $3.1 billion of new developments for our funds, successfully completing 4 new office buildings and 17 logistics facilities. We remain well-placed to deploy capital into opportunities as they emerge, with $6 billion in available liquidity, which has risen to $7 billion post balance date…
What's next?
Looking to what could impact the Charter Hall share price in the year ahead, the company said it expects to deliver 6% year-on-year growth in dividends in FY 24 "based on no material change in current market conditions".
The company offered FY24 guidance for post-tax operating earnings per share of approximately 75 cents.
How have Charter Hall shares been tracking?
Charter Hall shares are enjoying a lift today but remain down 14% over the past 12 months.
