Property giant Dexus grapples with substantial losses

Dexus (ASX:DXS), the prominent property giant, finds itself in the red once again, recording a loss exceeding half a billion dollars for the six months leading up to December. This adds to the substantial loss of over $700 million incurred during the financial year ending June 30, 2023.

Over the past 18 months, the conglomerate has disclosed statutory losses amounting to a staggering $1.350 billion, primarily attributed to significant impairments on its property portfolios. Specifically, total impairments reached $1.871 billion, with $1.183.9 billion incurred in the 2022-23 period and an additional $687.3 million during the December 2023 period.

Remarkably, the losses extend throughout the entirety of calendar year 2023, as the corresponding period ending December 2022 reported a meager statutory profit of just $23.1 million.

The latest half-yearly loss, standing at $597.2 million, follows closely behind the $753 million deficit reported for the 2022-23 financial year.

Funds from operations per security experienced a notable decline of nearly 6%, dropping from 28 cents per security in the preceding year to 27.2 cents per security in December 2023. Correspondingly, distributions per security decreased by 4.6%, settling at 26.7 cents per security compared to the previous year.

In absolute terms, funds from operations witnessed a 6.2% decrease year-on-year, plummeting from $389.1 million to $364.8 million. Nevertheless, the property group's total revenue from ordinary activities displayed a modest increase of 3.7%, climbing from $463.5 million to $480.6 million annually.

Looking ahead to the fiscal year ending June 30, CEO Darren Steinberg anticipates distributions of approximately 48 cents per security, with funds from operations expected to align closely with the 2023 figures.

Considering the data from 2022-23, the projected distribution of "about 48 cents per security" for 2023-24 indicates a decline of approximately 6.9% from the previous distributions and funds from operations, which stood at 51.6 cents per security.

About Glenn Dyer

Glenn Dyer has been a finance journalist and TV producer for more than 40 years. He has worked at Maxwell Newton Publications, Queensland Newspapers, AAP, The Australian Financial Review, The Nine Network and Crikey.

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