Property developer Stockland is continuing with its reweighting of its assets, selling some non-housing investments and moving deeper into residential and retail.

The company yesterday revealed more than $600 million worth of purchases and sales.

Purchases valued at $457 million and the asset sales were worth $208 million.

The company said it would acquire two residential projects in Western Australia and a shopping centre in Victoria while selling its 50% in Perth's BankWest Tower.

It follows two announcements on June 8 when it revealed it was negotiating to sell around $200 million of industrial assets, and had secured the right to progressively acquire 339 hectares of land in south west Sydney, the last major growth corridor for the metro area. That land will have an end value (developed) estimated at $1 billion by Stockland.

That was after it announced in May the sale of 50% of Waterfront Place in Brisbane for $216 million. The building is owned by a trust managed by Stockland. A further $16 million will be raised from selling 50% of the nearby Eagle Street Pier.

Earlier in May it announced the sale of an apartment block site in Melbourne for just over $22 million

In March it acquired a residential site in the Hunter Valley for $22 million, but its biggest deal was last December when it said it would start the acquisition of 1,121 hectares of land at Lockerbie, north of Melbourne, "with a total end land value of around $4 billion".

It has also bought a Centro Shopping Centre in Hervey Bay on the southern central Queensland coast which will be redeveloped at a cost of more than $100 million.

Now, the latest move in Perth sees it buying two residential projects in the north east corridor of Perth for $271 million.

It will sell its 50% stake in Perth's BankWest Tower for $130 million, giving Brookfield (the Canadian property giant) sole ownership of the building.

In a separate deal with the Sydney-based Walker Corporation, Stockland will acquire the Point Cook Town Centre in the Wyndham region in south west Melbourne for $176 million.

The developer will also acquire a 17 hectare parcel of land at East Leppington in south west Sydney for $10 million.

In return, Walker Corporation will buy 150 Charlotte Street in Brisbane for $54 million on completion of a refurbishment and the Myuna Complex in Canberra for $24 million.

Earlier this week, Stockland announced its estimated distribution/dividend for the six months to June 30 of 11.9c per Ordinary Stapled Security.

This equates to a full-year distribution/dividend payment of 23.7c per Ordinary Stapled Security.

The Record Date for determining entitlement to the distribution/dividend is Thursday 30 June 2011. The distribution/dividend payment will be made on Wednesday 31 August 2011.

The announcement of Stockland's full year financial results will be made on Wednesday August 10, 2011.

It said this announcement will include exact details of the distribution/dividend rate.

Stockland said its Distribution/Dividend Reinvestment Plan will not operate for this payment.

Stockland securities rose one cent to $3.51.

Copyright Australasian Investment Review.
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