Summerset sales climb 33 percent, beating IPO forecast

Summerset annual sales climb 33 percent, beating IPO forecast

By Paul McBeth

Jan. 10 (BusinessDesk) - Summerset Group, the retirement village operator and developer which joined the NZX 50 index last month, has beaten its annual forecast for sales of occupation rights, which climbed 33 percent from 2011.

The Wellington-based group sold 331 occupation rights for more than $100 million to village residents in the 2012 calendar year, from 231 sales and resales a year earlier. That means it beat its initial public offer forecast by 28 percent, the company said in a statement. Of that, 167 sales were new occupation rights, 25 percent ahead of expectations, and 164 were resales of existing rights, beating forecast by 32 percent.

"Summerset is continuing its strong growth. This week we opened our 15th village," chief executive Norah Barlow said. "We expect to be making further purchase and construction announcements through 2013."

Barlow has previously said the retirement village group expects to beat its IPO forecast net profit of $13.3 million and underlying earnings of $9.7 million in 2012.

Shares in Summerset rose 0.4 percent to $2.26 yesterday, and have climbed 61 percent from its $1.40 offer price when Australia's Quadrant Private Equity sold down its stake in the company and raised $50 million of new equity.

The stock is rated an average 'outperform' based on four analyst recommendations compiled by Reuters with a median target price of $2.08.

(BusinessDesk)

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