Australian REIT BWP Trust reported on 8 February that its total income for the half-year ended 31 December 2022 was AUD78.6 million.

This represents an increase of 3.6% over the previous corresponding period.

The increase in income was mainly due to rental growth from the existing property portfolio, said the REIT in its statement.

However, net profit for the period was AUD111.3 million, including AUD53.9 million of unrealised gains in the fair value of investment properties.

This represents a dip of 69% from the previous corresponding period of AUD348.3 million, which included unrealised gains of AUD291.8 million in the fair value of investment properties.

Finance costs of AUD7.8 million were 4% higher than the previous corresponding period, due to the weighted average cost of debt increasing from 3.2% to 3.3% due to higher interest rates.

At 31 December 2022, the portfolio was 97.5% leased with a weighted average lease expiry (WALE) term of 3.6 years.

“The primary focus for the remainder of the financial year is on filling any vacancies in the portfolio, progressing store upgrades, rezonings and extending Bunnings leases through the exercise of options”, said the REIT.

“The trust will continue to look for opportunities to acquire assets where there is good potential for value creation”, it added.

BWP Trust was last done on the ASX at AUD3.88.