Dive Brief:
- “We’re not there yet,” was Lendlease CEO Tony Lombardo’s message on the company’s continued strategy shift that favors real estate investment over building and developing. The firm reported its first half earnings Monday for fiscal year 2024, recording a net loss of 136 million Australian dollars ($89.3 million).
- CFO Simon Dixon attributed the loss to sinking valuations in the company’s property portfolio, reorganization costs and charges due to U.K. building remediation regulations.
- Lendlease has been pivoting from building and developing to an investment-led model. With that change, it has been more selective with its projects amid higher borrowing costs, but the turnaround continues to be arduous. Lombardo said the company has struggled to get capital from development into the investment segment to drive higher earnings.
Dive Insight:
Lendlease previously had to pay nearly AU$300 million for fiscal year 2023 due to changing U.K. laws about defect claims on residential projects in the country. For the first half of fiscal 2024, Lendlease took an additional AU$22 million loss related to the changes.
The biggest hit, however, came from AU$125 million in lower property valuations in the company’s investments segment.
In the U.S., Lombardo echoed a sentiment similar to that issued by Skanska during its earnings call earlier this month: A lack of sales has made it increasingly difficult to price its properties
“In the Americas, the outlook for commercial real estate in the sectors in which we are active continues to be challenged with a lack of transaction activity,” he said during the call.
On the bright side, Lendlease got back an undisclosed amount from Google for the cancellation of its massive San Francisco Bay Area project. The would-be $15 billion project called for millions of square feet of residential, retail and office space, forming a campus for the search engine company. Google announced its intention to continue on with the project without Lendlease in early November.
Lendlease’s construction business generated AU$3 billion in revenue for the period, an 18% drop. Nonetheless, the company secured AU$2.6 billion in new work, a 13% increase. While it characterized its reported backlog as “solid,” related revenue of AU$8.3 billion was down 5% from a year ago.
Lombardo said the company has shifted its construction priorities in the U.S. as part of the pivot to an investment-led business. The company has taken on fewer projects on the West Coast and Central region of the country and instead prioritized projects on the East Coast, primarily in life sciences and healthcare. Additionally, the company has stopped bringing on residential for-sale projects and projects worth less than AU$ 150 million, Lombardo said.
Despite several consecutive reports in the red, Lombardo’s message was that the company will stay the course.
“We’ve no change to the overall strategic direction of the group,” he said.