Land lease operator Ingenia says it is continuing to see high demand for homes across its portfolio, though recent flooding in NSW and Queensland has forced it to delay several projects.
In 13 weeks its share price has dropped 20% from $6.00 to $4.80.
In its Quarterly trading update, the listed operator said it had settled 227 new homes, with a further 460 homes deposited or contracted. However, owing to the floods in late February and early March, several key Queensland and NSW projects have been delayed, with homes that were initially expected to be completed this financial year pushed back to early FY23.
Significant delays were felt at Hervey Bay, the Sunshine Coast, Logan and the Gold Coast, with sites inaccessible due to the heavy rains; coupled with supply chain issues and labour shortages, the flooding has left the outlook for FY22 at 400 to 425 settlements – below the 475 Ingenia had been targeting in its half-yearly report – a 10% drop.
According to CEO Simon Owen (pictured), demand for Ingenia’s lifestyle communities under development has “never been stronger”.
“Our challenge remains the timing of home completions, which are experiencing additional delays as the demands created by recent weather events increase uncertainty in our supply chain and access to key trades continues to be a material constraint on project timelines.
“While we are continuing to navigate an unprecedented construction environment, the strong demand we have for homes, the positive outlook for our holidays business and the material growth in our development pipeline, position the business for earnings growth into the future,” he said.
Ingenia is continuing to target between 1,800 and 2,000 settlements in the three years to FY24.
