Quite a tough year was witnessed by Kermadec Property Fund today, as the listed property company experienced a net loss after tax of $11.93 million for the year to 31 March 2009.

NZ $12.93 million in value was lost by the company’s property portfolio, with a further $5.50 million in unrealised loss slipped from its grasp from interest rate swaps.

According to managing director of Augusta Funds Management, Kermadec’s parent company, Chris Francis, “I suppose the results in line with the state of the New Zealand property market at the moment; it’s been a challenging year with downward revaluation in line with the other listed property vehicles.”

It should be noted that 93% is the occupancy of Kermadec’s properties, with most leases expiring in 5.7 years on average. An average capitalization rate of 9.23% has been acquired by the company’s portfolio, after write-downs.

The net profit, which does not include one off items, deferred tax and unrealized revaluations, for Kermadec stood at is $5.10 million, down from the $5.50 million it achieved last year.

While the company’s dividend distribution reduced this year to an annualized cash rate of five cents per share, with a payment of 0.126 cents per share issued today, its gearing level of the Fund is up to 41% from 32% in March 2008.

The Fund which saw its total cash distributions 7.66 cents per share during 2009, hopes to face challenging market conditions for the remainder of 2009.

(via TopNews New Zealand. Contributed by Manish Verma)