Henry Ruiz, who left his role as Chief Strategy Officer and CEO REAx (REA Group's property research site property.com.au), after 15 years at the company in July last year, was announced as the land lease operator’s new CEO at its 1H25 financial results announcement last night.
He will officially start on 5 March. Henry has over 25 years’ experience in the property, digital media and technology sectors.
Lifestyle Communities was badly hurt by the ABC 7.30 Report "Financial Prison" as 64 home buyers cancelled between 1 July and 31 October last year. Managing Director and Co-Founder John Kelly retired. Then, as the financial report shows, the property market in Victoria is dire.
Ä total of 281 new home sale deposits are on hand and 175 homes will be completed and available for settlement in 2025. However, 71 of those customers are still trying to sell their homes.
The Victorian land lease operator, which cares for 5600 residents, is being forced to sell land sites it bought to reduce debt by $80 million to $100 million, slashed its development expenditure by $100 million and has paused paying a dividend to shareholders. Lifestyle Communities share price has plummeted 35% in the past year.
It is also investigating whether to change the Deferred Management Fee (DMF) model it has used since conceived by John Kelly, Bruce Carter and Dael Perlov in 2003.
"We continue to investigate options to enhance customer choice through initiatives such as introducing an upfront DMF payment option. We will defer such initiatives until after the resolution of both the VCAT proceedings and the Victorian Government's review of the Residential Tenancies Act," said the business.
Operating profit after tax increased 9.5% from $20.8 million in the first half of FY24 to $22.8 million in the first half of FY25.
"After a challenging period following adverse media coverage in July and a continuing soft residential market in Victoria, we are pleased with the progress made by the team to position to navigate a period of lower sales in the near team,”said Executive Chair David Blight.