- URW a top performer as retail begins to pick up again
- Aspen Group picks up another property, its fourth for FY21
- CommBank sells up GDI shares, is no longer a substantial holder
This morning the ASX gained 86.9 points, up 1.29% to 6825.30. The ASX noted that this came “despite crossing below its 50-day moving average.”
Top performers included a property company, global retail developer Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield (ASX: URW), up 6.56% since yesterday.
Casting an eye back to 31 March last year, the company was trading at $4.31, today it is currently trading at $5.34.
Mining companies generally held the fort for top performers, AGL and Harvey Norman saw falls of 1.94% and 4.45% respectively.
ASX Today
Staying with URW, the company released its annual reports to shareholders earlier in the week, with €4.4 billion (A$6.77 billion) in the pipeline for new projects, and €2.3 billion (A$3.54 billion) in disposals for this financial year.
The company will also be holding its AGM on 12 May 2021, a closed session due to COVID; the AGM will be held in Paris, France.
Other annual reports have started to trickle in. US Masters Residential Property Fund (ASX: URF) welcomed US$70 million in sales across the year, and fuel station and convenience REIT, Waypoint REIT Limited (ASX: WPR), announced 99.9% of rent was collected in 2020 and a $279.9 million statutory net profit was achieved – that’s a 41.6% increase year on year.
Devine Limited (ASX: DVN) saw losses after tax of $4.4 million in its annual report and Hudson Investment Group (ASX: HGL) saw a net profit of $0.14 million.
GDI Property Group (ASX: GDI) lost Commonwealth Bank as a substantial holder. As of 25 March, Commonwealth Bank of Australia held 411,410 securities in GDI.
APN Industria REIT (ASX: ADI) made two large announcements as well, the acquisition of a $36 million Victorian industrial warehouse with a 20-year triple-net lease.
Located in Corio, Victoria, the property is currently leased to Thornton Engineering, “… with annual rent reviews the higher of 2.75% or CPI, capped at 3.75%. The purchase price reflects a 5.5% capitalisation rate and initial yield, and equates to $1,477 per square metre of lettable area.” The acquisition is expected to be completed by 7 April 2021.
APN Industria also announced the settlement of its Adelaide Airport warehouses, the purchase made back on 10 December last year for $29.6 million. The properties include numbers several in Butler Boulevard, Adelaide Airport.
Centuria Capital Group (ASX: CNI) continues its listed note offer, yesterday announcing the offer is now open to security holders. The initial bookbuild saw the original intention of $100 million almost doubled to $190 million. The company also released its replacement prospectus following the increase.
Proptech Group Limited (ASX PTG) also saw Songpan Investments Pty Ltd reduce the number of securities held, previously holding 9.6 million shares amounting to 7.91% voting power, now reduced to 7.9 million or 6.51% voting power. The company opened at $3.14 back in 2015, dropped to $0.22 through most of 2020 and is trading at $0.60 today.
Proptech Group share performance, ASX 2016-2021
Finally, Aspen Group (ASX: APZ) made its fourth acquisition for the financial year, an $18.5 million student accommodation property in Brisbane.
The company seems to be taking a long-term bet on the market but also pitching the property to savvy, young people looking to enter the rental market with a unique product that allows for a more sociable environment.
