PFI announces 1Q dividend, resumes reinvestment scheme

PFI announces 1Q dividend, resumes reinvestment scheme for investors

By Suze Metherell

May 4 (BusinessDesk) - Property For Industry, New Zealand's only listed company specialising in industrial property, will pay 1.75 cents per share for its first quarter dividend and has reinstalled its dividend reinvestment scheme.

The Auckland-based property investor will pay shareholders the dividend, which is unchanged from a year earlier, on May 27, with a record date of May 18, it said in a statement. Property For Industry is also reinstating its dividend reinvestment scheme for the first time in three years, offering a 2 percent discount from the average share price for shareholders who take it up.

Earlier this year the property investor said it expects to pay more of its earnings in dividends in the coming year after its dividend payout ratio declined to 96 percent of earnings in 2014 from 99 percent a year earlier.

Property For Industry posted a 48 percent increase in net profit to $59.9 million in the year ended Dec. 31 as it marked its first full financial year since merging with Direct Property Fund. Revenue rose 33 percent to $63.8 million while expenses increased 27 percent to $26.9 million, it said.

The company also increased its syndicated bank loan facility to $375 million from $350 million, lifting Property For Industry's weighted average cost of debt to 6.08 percent, from 5.96 percent as at Dec. 31.

Shares of the investor last traded at $1.60 and have gained 5.6 percent since the start of the year. The stock is rated an average of 'sell' on the consensus of five analysts surveyed by Reuters, with an average price target of $1.48.

(BusinessDesk)

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