New Zealand’s second-largest village operator has delivered a record 296 sales of occupation rights for the three months ending 31 December 2020, with 176 new sales and 120 resales.
Outgoing CEO Julian Cook said Casebrook (Christchurch), Ellerslie (Auckland) and Rototuna (Hamilton) retirement villages were the standout performers in Q4.
“We opened the main building at Casebrook in March and have sold 88% of its serviced apartments and memory care centre apartments,” he said.
Mr Cook added that 2021 pre-sales were also encouraging, particularly at Summerset’s new Kenepuru (Wellington) and Te Awa (Napier) villages.
“We have pre-sold over 93% of Te Awa’s villas which are due to be delivered in Q1, 2021,” he stated. “We are very pleased with these results and have a strong pipeline of sales for Q1, 2021.”
The results cap off a strong 12 months for the operator, with its share price rising 37% to $11.40 despite taking a hit from COVID in March that saw it dive to $3.89.
Overall, the company has a market capitalisation of $2.7 billion.
As we reported here, Mr Cook will not be there to see what 2021 holds for the group however – he will be stepping down in March with Summerset’s Board Chair of 10 years, Rob Campbell, also announcing he will retire from his role in April.
Current Deputy Chief Executive and Chief Financial Officer Scott Scoullar will take on the CEO role, leading a sales strategy which is expected to include Summerset’s first delivery of retirement village units in Australia this year.
The operator currently has two sites in Victoria – one in Cranbourne North, 39km southeast of the Melbourne CBD, and the other in Torquay, 95km southwest of Melbourne.
