New Zealand Rural Land Company Sets ‘YieldPlusGrowth’ Direction Following Independent Capital Review

New Zealand Rural Land Company Limited (NZX: NZL) today announced the outcomes of an independent capital review undertaken by KPMG, confirming a clear framework to prioritise reliable cash yield alongside disciplined, accretive growth.

Commissioned by the Board as part of New Zealand Rural Land Company’s fiveyear review cycle, the work considered market feedback, valuation drivers and capital management settings.

“The capital management framework will guide our decisionmaking on acquisitions, dividends and share buybacks going forward,” says Chair Rob Campbell.

“We’re starting 2026 in a strong position with a clear strategic focus. The release of this review and confirmation of our strategy should underpin investor confidence in the business.”

“New Zealand’s rural sector has been performing strongly and has led the country’s recovery. We remain positive about its prospects and continue to assess opportunities to deploy capital into productive rural land.”

New Zealand Rural Land Company owns 17,077 hectares of highly-productive agricultural land spread across pastoral, horticultural and forestry, with long-term leases to some of New Zealand’s most successful operators.

By only owning the underlying land, it offers investors exposure to rural land without the traditional operational risks of farming, with the liquidity benefits of being a listed vehicle.

“We remain focused on delivering consistent earnings and dividend growth from ownership and leasing of productive rural land assets,” says Campbell.

“Our sustainable structural advantage is based on access to transactions, access to capital, being a domestic buyer, strong due diligence and lease structuring, and access to quality tenant partnerships.”

“Matching that with a disciplined strategic focus provides a clear value proposition for our investors.”

“We’re releasing a report of the independent review to provide transparency to the market and strongly signal our intentions,” says Campbell.

The review found that investors primarily value New Zealand Rural Land Company on the sustainability and reliability of its cash yield, with asset values/NTA viewed as secondary considerations, and reinforced the importance of scale and liquidity, provided growth remains accretive on a pershare basis.

Dividend policy: clarity and predictability for shareholders

New Zealand Rural Land Company has adopted a revised dividend policy targeting quarterly distributions of approximately 90–100 percent of Adjusted Funds from Operations (AFFO), consistent with sector practice, to provide greater predictability and transparency. The policy would only be suspended in extreme circumstances.

Based on a current share price of $1.07 and using the midpoint of 95% of AFFO, the implied cash yield would increase from 4.0% to 4.7% per share (assumes midpoint of FY25 AFFO guidance of $7.5–$8.0m).

Alongside the revised policy, the Board will take a more dynamic, casebycase approach to the Dividend Reinvestment Plan (DRP)—confirming at each dividend whether the DRP will apply, having regard to capital needs and potential dilution to earnings and Net Tangible Assets (NTA), broadly aligning New Zealand Rural Land Company with other listed property vehicles.

Capital allocation: disciplined, accretive growth

Future capital management will be guided by pershare AFFO accretion. New Zealand Rural Land Company will:

• Raise new equity only where it is forecast to be accretive to AFFO per share;
• Pursue scale to improve liquidity and market relevance, but not at the expense of yield or pershare returns;
• Assess share buybacks vs. asset acquisitions using a yieldbased framework that compares riskadjusted returns.

These settings align New Zealand Rural Land Company’s strategy with market expectations and support sustainable longterm shareholder value.

In parallel, the Board has commenced a performance and composition review with Propero Consulting, to be completed in the first half of 2026.

About New Zealand Rural Land Company (NZL)
New Zealand Rural Land Company is an NZXlisted owner of productive rural land. NZL leases land to highquality operators and is focused on delivering consistent earnings and dividend growth for shareholders. Ticker: NZX:NZL.
 

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