Abacus Property slips on discounted placement, Citi sees growth in storage business

Abacus

18/03/2022 03:51

(Adds Citi comments, updates volumes)
    ** Shares of Abacus Property Group  ABP.AX  down as much as
6.5% to A$3.33, post their biggest intraday pct loss since March
2020
    ** Real estate firm announces placement to raise A$200 mln
($147.70 mln) at A$3.38/share after market close on Thursday;
offer price represents a discount of 5.1% to stock's last close
 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nASX4tnkqC
    ** ABP says proceeds will be used to replenish investment
capacity spent on acquisitions yet to settle, among others
    ** Citi says equity raising would help support growth in
storage business, where ABP sees both organic and inorganic
growth upside
    ** We estimate upfront annualised earnings dilution of about
5%, given the proceeds planned to be used to fund storage
development pipeline over the next few years - Citi
    ** Citi expects each A$100 mln of acquisitions to be 1%-1.5%
accretive, with ABP having about A$320 mln of capacity after
raising
    ** ABP intends to undertake a security purchase plan to
raise A$15 mln at the same offer price
    ** Stock down to its lowest since Jan. 28
    ** More than 3.3 mln shares change hands, compared with the
30-day average volume of 869,000 shares
    ** ABP down 6% this year, as of last close


($1 = 1.3541 Australian dollars)

 (Reporting by Arundhati Dutta and Savyata Mishra in Bengaluru)
 ((Savyata.mishra@thomsonreuters.com))