Arena REIT announces new CEO and Half Year results

ASX 300-listed real estate investment trust Arena REIT has appointed Mr Rob de Vos as the new Group Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, in addition to reporting its half year 2019 results.

Mr de Vos, who was previously Head of Property, is to assume his leadership responsibilities immediately as Bryce Mitchelson, the group’s previous CEO who had led the company and its predecessor for close to ten years, transitions into retirement.

David Ross, Chairman of Arena, noted “Mr de Vos has been Head of Property with Arena REIT and its predecessor for over six years and has a deep understanding of the investment portfolio and strong relationships with its business partners.”

Arena also released its half year 2019 results in which they reported an increase in operating profit of 9.3 per cent to $18.3 million, aided by a 3.3 per cent increase in rental income but a fall of 7.8 per cent in statutory net profit as revaluation gains failed to match those of the previous period.

The company disclosed its early learning centre development pipeline currently consisted of four centres and had a value of $21 million.

Overall commitments to greenfields sites are at cycle lows and reflect a similar trajectory to that reported by Charter Hall Education Trust last week.

With regards to tenants’ operating experience, Mr de Vos said “Our tenant partners have reported an overall positive impact from the introduction of the Child Care Subsidy.”

Other key highlights of the report included:

• 100 per cent occupancy rates were maintained across Arena’s 211 early learning centres and seven healthcare centres
• Two operating early learning  properties were acquired, three greenfield early learning properties were completed, and two new greenfields acquired
• Three new specialist disability accommodation centres were purchased for $24 million in Adelaide
• Tenant profile by percentage of annual rent saw Goodstart Early Learning as the largest tenant at 33 per cent followed by Green Leaves at 14 per cent
• Portfolio yields fell to 6.46 per cent as at December 2018, a fall of 6 bps from June 2018 and 9 bps on December 2017
• The company increased its debt facility to $280 million with a $50 million increase after the 31 December 2018
• Earnings per unit increased 5.5 per cent to 6.7 cents from 6.42 cents in the same period last year.

Commenting on the future prospects for the group, Mr de Vos noted “We remain focused on securing attractive investment opportunities to leverage our property and development expertise to grow earnings and build long term value for investors.”