Centuria Capital ups investment in real estate debt

Centuria Capital Group has moved further into the real estate debt financing sector by increasing its stake in Centuria Bass Credit Pty Ltd from 50% to 80% in a transaction valued at $57 million.

The move comes after Centuria Capital last year cut its distribution by around 14% in the face of uncertain market conditions and in the wake of its recent half-year results which saw statutory net profit after tax down from $74.3 million to $45.2 million.

Centuria Capital joint chief executive, John McBain said expanding the company’s stake in Centuria Bass Credit increased its alignment and earnings-share to a market leading real estate finance business, capable of generating healthy profit accretion.

“We retain high conviction over this asset class and are focused on broadening the range of real estate debt offerings to our investor network,” he said noting that investors had developed an increasing appetite for the relatively competitive returns and short durations such funds exhibit.

The Centuria announcement noted that Centuria Bass had grown meaningfully since its formation from $0.3 billion in assets under management to $1.7 billion currently.

It said Centuria Bass generated an interim operating profit of $7.2 million for Centuria as at 31 December, last year, based on the company’s previous 50% stake.